Curtain Call
by Ink Spotz
Summary: There is a killer loose in the Palm Woods. He strikes when nobody is looking. Not only that, but he has taken on the identity of one Kendall Knight. How will Kendall be able to prove his innocence and stop the killer from taking more lives? How can Kendall protect the ones he loves when the odds are stacked against him?
1. Teenage Crisis

Chapter 1

"Kendall Knight! Come here!" yelled Mrs. Knight from the kitchen.

"What's wrong Mom?" asked Kendall as he came out of the bedroom. She sounded mad.

Mrs. Knight sat at the table and stared at Kendall as he came into the room. A mound of envelopes was on the table in front of her. She tossed one of the envelopes at Kendall.

"Do you care to tell me what you spent five thousand dollars on recently?" asked Mrs. Knight as she watched Kendall pick up the bill.

"Five thousand dollars?" asked Kendall in shock as he read the bill. "But I never spent any of it!"

"It says that it came off the credit card that Gustavo personally gave you," said Mrs. Knight. "You know that Gustavo is going to expect you to pay for that."

Mrs. Knight leaned back in her chair.

"But Mom, I haven't even used my credit card since I received it last month!" said Kendall. "Well, take that back. I used it once to buy myself a lunch, but that's it I swear!"

Mrs. Knight studied Kendall and the shocked look on his face before saying, "I believe you Kendall. I have no reason not to. But how do you explain that bill?"

"I don't know," said Kendall.

"Look. You stay here and watch Katie in the apartment since she has the flu. I'll go try to straighten this out with Gustavo and the bank," said Mrs. Knight as she rose from the table and held her hand out for the bill.

Kendall handed it over wordlessly.

"I'll be back shortly," said Mrs. Knight as she waved goodbye and shut the door of apartment 2J behind her.

Kendall walked over to the couch and threw himself down onto it. He looked up at the ceiling and wondered how that bill had come into existence. Kendall heard the door fly open and he didn't have to look to know who it was.

"I'm telling you, if you just gave me five minutes alone with Lucy, I could get her to love me," said James.

"James, you've been trying to make Lucy love you forever. Five more minutes isn't going to make a difference," said Logan.

"It will if I give her the face," insisted James.

"The face?" asked Logan with a short laugh. "And what, may I ask, is the face?"

Kendall turned his head to the side to look at them as James smiled a bright smile.

"That's the face?" asked Logan. "Well, good luck with that is all I can say."

"Hey! A smile is a person's glimpse into your heart," said James. "Maybe if I give her a glimpse into my heart, she'll love me."

Carlos walked behind the pair of them, daydreaming about something. He snapped out of it when Logan turned and asked him, "What do you think James could do to win Lucy's heart?"

"Be her hero," said Carlos with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yep," said James. "I'm sticking with my plan."

The three of them turned and finally saw Kendall's worried face.

"What's wrong Kendall?" asked Logan as they came over and sat down on the couch with him.

"My Mom received a bill saying that I spent five thousand dollars on the credit card that Gustavo gave us," said Kendall.

"What did you spend it on?" asked James eagerly.

"I didn't spend it on anything!" said Kendall. "That's the problem! My Mom went to the bank to see if she could straighten the matter out."

"Well that certainly is strange," admitted Logan.

"Maybe it's a case of identity theft," said Carlos.

The three of them looked over at Carlos as Kendall said, "Identity theft? Who would want to pretend to be me?"

"I don't know, but Carlos may have a point," said Logan. "It's not impossible."

"But why?" asked Kendall.

Before anyone else could say a word, they heard a terrified scream down the hall.

"What was that?" asked Kendall as they all ran toward the door.

They reached the door and peeked out into the hallway to see everyone clustered a little ways down the hall.

"Carlos, James, could you please stay with Katie for a minute? We'll be right back," said Kendall as he and Logan ran over to see what all the commotion was about.

They got to the crowd and managed to worm their way in so they could see what was going on. A teenage girl laid collapsed on the floor, unconcious.

"Is she dead?" asked someone from the crowd.

Kendall knew that she was. He could see the tiny pool of blood beginning to puddle under her head.

"Yes," said someone from the crowd. "She is."

Kendall didn't recognize the girl, but that was probably because there were a lot of people living at the Palm Woods. How did she die?

"She's been murdered," whispered Logan as if he could read Kendall's thoughts.

"What?" whispered Kendall as he turned to face Logan.

"Look at the red wound by her hairline," said Logan. "A knife is the only thing that could leave that kind of scar."

Mr. Bitters suddenly appeared on the scene, flustered and out of breath.

"It's alright. There is no need to panic. Everyone please head back to your rooms and stay there. The police will be here shortly," instructed Mr. Bitters as he stood in front of the murdered girl.

Kendall and Logan turned and walked back to the aparment like the rest of the crowd. What was going on?

* * *

"So someone got murdered?" asked James, his voice becoming pinched in panic. "And we're expected to stay here still?"

"Where would we go James?" asked Kendall. "Besides, Katie is really sick. I told Mom I'd watch over her."

"Carlos, you're awful quiet," said Logan looking over at Carlos who was lying on the couch. "Actually you've been staring off into space all day. What's up?"

"I'm trying to figure out who that guy that we saw at the ice cream stand today is," said Carlos. "He looked familiar and it's been bothering me all day."

"You mean the guy in front of us with the scar on his right hand?" asked James. "He looked familiar?"

"Well yea," said Carlos. "Something about him seemed familiar."

Suddenly a knock came at the door.

"I wonder who that could be," said Kendall as he got up from the couch and walked over to the door.

He opened the door and saw two police officers standing there.

"Is there something I can do for you officers?" asked Kendall.

"Yes, is there a Kendall Knight here?" asked one of the police officers.

"That would be me," said Kendall. "What can I do for you?"

"Kendall Knight, you are under arrest," said the other officer.

"What for?" asked Kendall in shock.

"For the murder at the Palm Woods."


	2. Muffins

Chapter 2

Kendall leaned back in the uncomforatable chair he was seated in. His hands were handcuffed in front of him and the police chief sat behind his mahagony desk, studying him.

"So, you aren't going to talk?" asked the police chief.

"Look," said Kendall exasperated. "I told you everything I know."

"You didn't tell me anything," said the police chief.

"Exactly," said Kendall, "Because I don't know anything!"

A knock came at the door and the police chief bellowed out, "Come in."

A head poked into the room and said, "His mother's out here and is adamant that she be let in."

"Bring her in," said the police chief.

The man opened the door wider and Mrs. Knight burst into the room.

"Mom," said Kendall with a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad that you're..."

"Shh!" she said immediately quieting him. Mrs. Knight turned to look at the police chief and asked, "What is going on?"

"Your son is being charged with the murder of Stacy Rose," said the police chief.

"What evidence do you have on him?" asked Mrs. Knight.

The police chief slid a plastic bag across the desk to her.

"This knife, which has been identified as the murder weapon, has a unique handle which made it easy to trace where it came from. We questioned the shop owner about that knife and he said that someone came into his shop and purchased it with a credit card the other day." The police chief picked up a piece of paper and slid it across the desk at her. "When we tracked the transaction, we discovered that the credit card that was used to purchase the knife belonged to your son."

Mrs. Knight turned to look at Kendall as he muttered under his breath, "I hate credit cards."

"I'm sorry," said Mrs. Knight. "We've been having trouble with his card..."

"Save it," said the police chief. "Now we have enough evidence to detain him in a cell..."

"Please," begged Mrs. Knight. "Please let me take my son home with me."

The police chief looked at Kendall and let out a sigh.

"Fine, he can go home with you on two conditions," said the police chief. "One, when we have enough evidence to convict him, he has to come to jail without a word of complaint or an attempt at refusal."

"Okay," said Mrs. Knight shifting uneasily. "What's the second condition?"

"And two, he has to wear this," said the police chief. He reached under his desk, grabbed something, and placed it on his desk. Mrs. Knight and Kendall stared at it for a minute. What lay on the police chief's desk was a metal anklet with a small bulb attached. "Kendall will be under house arrest until we can convict him..."

"Or prove his innocence," injercted Mrs. Knight.

"...or prove his innocence," added the police chief. "This anklet that he will be required to wear will go off if he steps foot off of Palm Woods property. If it does go off, we will be forced to lock him up."

"Okay," said Mrs. Knight. "We understand."

"Okay," said the police chief. He turned to look at Kendall. "Do you understand Kendall?"

"Yes," said Kendall, still in utter disbelief about what was happening to him right now.

With that, the police chief rose from his chair and, grabbing the anklet, walked over to Kendall. He bent down and attached the anklet to Kendall's ankle. Once it was secure, he went back to his seat and activated it.

"Alright," said the police chief. "Hopefully this matter will be settled soon."

"Yes," said Kendall. "I sure hope so."

* * *

"They're really making you wear that?" asked James looking at Kendall's metal anklet in surprise.

"Yes," said Kendall. "They think that I'm the killer."

"That's absurd!" stated Logan. "You were here with us when the murder occurred!"

"I told you it was a case of identity theft," said Carlos.

"I know Carlos, and the scary thing is, you might not be too far off," said Kendall. "I don't like thinking about someone twisted enough to pin murders on me though. Why would someone want to steal my identity? What have I done? I'm a good person!"

Kendall could hear Katie's coughing fits start from the bedroom once more. She seemed to be sicker than ever.

"Well," said Mrs. Knight as she walked out of the bedroom and over to the boys. "I've got to go downtown and get some medicine for Katie. Anyone want to tag along?"

"I'll go," said Carlos and Logan at the same time.

"Alright," said Mrs. Knight. "What about you James?"

"No thanks Mrs. Knight," said James. "I think that I'll stay here with Kendall."

"Oh ok," said Mrs. Knight. "Thank you James. We should be back shortly."

With that the three of them left the apartment. Almost as soon as they had left, a knock sounded at the door.

"Who could that be?" asked Kendall hoping it wasn't a police officer come to arrest him again.

"I'll see this time," said James as he got up off the couch.

As James went to answer the door, Kendall could hear Katie calling for him. Kendall got up off the couch and went into the bedroom. As he entered the bedroom, he saw Katie lying as sick as a dog on her bed.

"Hey big brother," she rasped. "Would you mind getting me something to eat?"

"Sure sis," said Kendall. "Whatever you need."

Katie immediately noticed the metal anklet on Kendall and asked, "What's with that?"

"The police think I'm a killer," said Kendall.

Katie gave him a look that read that she wanted all of the details.

"It's a long story that I don't have the time or energy to tell again," said Kendall. "I'll tell you later Katie. I promise."

Kendall walked back out into the kitchen and saw James staring at a basket of muffins on the table.

"Where did those come from?" asked Kendall pointing at the huge basket of muffins.

"I don't know," said James. "When I opened the door to see who was there, all that was in the hallway was this basket."

"There's no card saying who sent it?" asked Kendall.

"All the card said was 'enjoy'," said James handing the small white card over to Kendall so that he could look at it too.

"The muffins sure look good," commented Kendall as he placed the card on the table. "They probably came from Bitters or something. I'm sure they are fine. Maybe Katie will want one?"

"Yes I do," rasped Katie, overhearing their conversation.

"Ok," said Kendall as he grabbed a muffin out of the basket. "One muffin coming up!"

Kendall brought the muffin in to where Katie was and helped to prop her up so she could eat it. As soon as Katie had finished the muffin she looked at Kendall and said, "No matter what the police say, I know you aren't a killer."

"Thank you," said Kendall with a small smile.

Katie smiled back and yawned.

"Now how about you get some sleep and see if you can get rid of this cold?" suggested Kendall.

He got off Katie's bed and tucked her in. Once she was all tucked in, he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

"Goodnight baby sister," said Kendall. "I'll see you later."

* * *

Kendall was having a peaceful night's rest that night, despite the occurrences of the day. He would have continued to if it wasn't for the fact that someone was shaking him awake.

"What..." grumbled Kendall sleepily as he tried to awaken.

"Kendall! Wake up dude!" said the worried voice of Logan as he continued to shake Kendall.

"What is it?" asked Kendall as he opened his eyes and squinted up at Logan in the darkness.

"Something's wrong with Katie," said Logan.

"What?" exclaimed Kendall as he became fully awake. "What's wrong with her?"

"She...she's very weak," said Logan. "I don't know how to tell you this Kendall."

"Tell me what?" asked Kendall.

"Katie has been poisoned."


	3. Someone That You Know

Chapter 3

"Kendall, I'm sure she's going to be okay," assured Jo as she placed her hand over his.

Kendall had stayed up all through the night and all through the morning waiting to hear about Katie's condition. So far nobody had called. Everyone had gone to the hospital. Jo had come by early this morning and had been staying with Kendall to comfort him.

"Yea, I'm sure she's okay," said Kendall. "She's gotta be."

Kendall turned to look at Jo who was staring off into space in silence.

"What's up?" he asked as he studied her.

"I...I don't know how to feel about this whole thing Kendall. I mean, you're wearing..."

She looked down at his anklet.

"Jo, I'm not a killer. I didn't kill anybody. You believe me, don't you?"

"But the police..."

"...have been wrong in the past," finished Kendall.

He turned all the way sideways so that he was facing her full on.

"Jo, I wouldn't kill an innocent girl and you know I would never do anything to hurt Katie," said Kendall. "Babe you know me."

Jo turned to look at Kendall and said, "I know. But what if you've changed?"

With that Jo retracted her hand from Kendall as if by touching him, she'd fall over dead.

"Do you realize what people are saying about you?" asked Jo. "Do you realize what people are saying about me for dating you?"

"Jo, don't let the haters get to you. I love you," said Kendall. "This will all iron itself out eventually. I _will_ discover who the guilty one is."

Before Kendall could say anything else, a knock came at the door.

"Maybe it's Mom and Katie," said Kendall jumping off the couch and racing to the door.

When he opened the door, he saw Jett standing there.

"Hi Jett! What's up?" asked Kendall.

"I just came by to pick up Jo. I figured she'd be here," said Jett with his usual charming smile.

"Oh hi Jett!" said Jo as she walked over to the door with a bounce in her step.

Kendall looked over at Jo queerly.

"What's Jett want with you Jo?" asked Kendall.

"He's driving me to work today since we are both filming on the same lot," said Jo. "And you can't take me to work because of..."

"It's alright Kendall. She's safe with me," said Jett. "Come on Jo. Let's get going before we're late."

"Ok," said Jo.

She turned to look at Kendall and said, "I'll talk to you later."

Jo walked out of the apartment and down the hall. It hurt Kendall to have Jo leave thinking that he was guilty, but there wasn't much that he could do at the moment. Jett lingered for a minute, looking at the anklet on Kendall's ankle.

"So that's what one looks like..." mused Jett. "Interesting..."

"Aren't you suppose to be with Jo?" asked Kendall growing irritated.

"Ah yes. I'd better catch up with her. Sorry about the anklet Kendall. I know that you aren't a knife weilding murderer," said Jett as he turned and walked away to go catch up with Jo.

"Well," muttered Kendall under his breath as he shut the door. "At least Jett believes me."

* * *

RING...RING...RI-

"How's Katie?" asked Kendall immediately picking up the phone on the third ring.

"She's fine," said Mrs. Knight. "We got her to the hospital on time. They managed to rid the poison from her system."

"Oh good," said Kendall with a sigh of relief. "How are you doing?"

"Fine I guess," said Mrs. Knight. "It's just one thing after another though...I'm exhausted."

"Mom, everything will be okay," said Kendall. "I'll figure this out."

"Kendall, you always were my little boy. I don't want to see you convicted of murder, especially one you didn't commit," said Mrs. Knight trying to bite back a sob.

"Mom," said Kendall wishing that she was there so he could give her a hug; instead all he could do was grip the phone tighter. "I'll figure out who is framing me. I promise. They will pay for what they are doing."

Mrs. Knight was gently sobbing on the other end of the line. Kendall felt himself hardening on the inside instead of falling apart. He would find that killer or die trying.

* * *

A knock at the door arose Kendall from his nap on the couch. Now that he knew Katie was okay, he thought it was safe to sleep. He had only managed to sleep ten minutes before the knock sounded. Groaning, Kendall rolled off the couch and walked toward the door to open it. Gustavo stood there with Kelly. Gustavo held a couple of notebooks and pens while Kelly held two coffee cups.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Kendall.

"Just because one of you is under house arrest doesn't mean we can pause the album," stated Gustavo. "We have to keep working on it..."

"...So we decided to come here and work on it," said Kelly with an over the top smile.

"You're here because of Katie, aren't you?" asked Kendall.

He watched their smiles drop away and knew he was right.

"Well, I'm okay now that I know she's okay. You don't have to worry about my "psycho" tendencies showing..."

"Kendall," said Gustavo. "We don't believe that you are guilty."

"Well, Jo does and so does the rest of the Palm Woods," said Kendall with a sigh of discouragement.

Gustavo and Kelly walked into the apartment, closing the door behind them. They placed what they held in their hands on the table.

"Kendall, you can't get discouraged. Look how far you've come..."

"Yea, and someone wants to see it come crashing down around me," said Kendall interrupting Kelly. "I just wish I knew who was responsible."

"Tell him Gustavo," said Kelly elbowing Gustavo.

"Tell me what?" asked Kendall, his curiosity aroused.

"We might have a way to help you figure out who the guilty one is," said Kelly. "Tell him Gustavo."

This time she elbowed him so hard that he glared at her before saying, "Kelly is right. We might have a way of helping you figure out who the real culprit is."

"Well, what is it?" asked Kendall.

"Your credit card that I gave you is highly protected. The only way that someone could have stolen money off your security protected credit card is if they were someone close to you," said Gustavo.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" asked Kendall in fear.

"Yes," said Gustavo nodding his head solemnly. "The killer is someone that you know."


	4. Motives

Chapter 4

"Kendall honey, what's wrong?" asked Mrs. Knight seeing Kendall in a slumped state on the couch.

She rushed over to him and touched his forehead.

"Mom, I'm fine," Kendall muttered, still trying to piece together what Gustavo had told him. The killer was someone that he knew.

Ever since Kendall had told Gustavo and Kelly to leave, he had been thinking about who could be doing this to him. It was giving him a major headache.

"Katie has to stay overnight at the hospital so they can make sure she's okay," said Mrs. Knight, wondering if that would make Kendall feel better.

_"Probably would be safer for her there," _thought Kendall.

Kendall looked at his mom wearily. For all he knew, she could be a suspect. He didn't know who he could trust. All he knew was that Gustavo's news had made him paranoid. Maybe that was a good thing. It would keep him on his toes, ready and waiting for the killer's next move against him.

"I've got to get some sleep," said Kendall as he rose from the couch.

Even though Kendall was tired, he knew that when he retired to his bedroom he still wouldn't be able to sleep.

"Okay," said Mrs. Knight as she watched him walk into the bedroom and shut the door.

Kendall threw himself onto his bed and looked up at the ceiling. Who was the killer?

If it was true and the killer was someone close to him, who could it be? Was it his mother?

Kendall didn't want to think that the killer was his mother. She always wanted the best for him; she would never want to hurt him. Besides, Kendall knew that she would never do anything to hurt Katie. Immediately he removed his mother from the mental suspect list in his head. It couldn't be her.

He didn't like thinking that it was Logan, Carlos, or James, but as Kendall lay there thinking about it, there _was_ all something that made them all a little suspicious. Carlos had been the first one to blurt out that the five thousand dollar credit card bill might have come about due to identity theft. Carlos was not known to figure matters out that quickly. The fact that Carlos said that only for Kendall to discover that it was true made Carlos a likely suspect. Before he could be considered a viable suspect though, Kendall had to figure out what Carlos's motive could be.

Kendall thought long and hard about what Carlos's motive could be. That was when he thought up a possible motive. It was a shallow one, but it was still a motive all the same. Maybe Carlos was jealous of Kendall being able to get a girlfriend. Carlos had been trying so hard to get a girlfriend ever since they moved to the Palm Woods with no success. Maybe Carlos wanted to make Kendall pay for that. As much as he hated doing it, he added Carlos to his mental suspect list.

Kendall turned his thoughts to Logan. What made Logan suspicious to Kendall was that he knew exactly what had killed Stacy. He knew just by looking at her wound that a knife had killed her. Yes Kendall understood that Logan was studying to become a doctor and so he might have an idea of the weapon that had killed her, but Kendall thought that it was oddly suspicious that Logan still managed to figure out the exact weapon. To Kendall's eyes, it looked like the wound could have been caused by any weapon. To Kendall it just looked like a bloody cut.

But what was Logan's motive? The only motive that Kendall could think of was that maybe Logan was tired of not having his doctor dream come true. Maybe he was taking out that frustration on Kendall since he was the leader and had caused them to become a boy band. Maybe Logan wished that he had never jumped on the band wagon to begin with and spent more time pursuing his doctor dream. Kendall added Logan to his mental suspect list.

That left James. The reason that Kendall thought James was suspicious was because he had been left to answer the door alone when the muffins were delivered. He had also been left alone with the muffins for a minute once they were in the apartment since Kendall had been with Katie still. That gave James plenty of time to plant poison in the muffins.

Now onto James's motive. What could that be? That was when Kendall thought of one. It was a strong one too. James always had a dream about being famous. He had his golden opportunity when he auditioned in Minnesota for Gustavo. Yet Gustavo hadn't liked him. Gustavo didn't want to make James famous; he wanted to make Kendall famous. Even though James was still getting to live out his dream, maybe he was jealous that he had never been "wanted" to begin with, Kendall had. James made his way onto Kendall's mental suspect list.

How was he going to narrow his list of suspects down? He knew that he would have to assume the role of detective and confront his friends one by one. No matter if he liked it or not, they were all going to be guilty until proven innocent. Kendall didn't have much of a choice.

Time was running out and he knew it.

What he didn't know was what was going to happen later that night.

* * *

**AN: I want to hear from you! Who do you think the killer is? PM me with the answer. The person or people that guess right will get a huge shout out at the end of this story for being such clever detectives! And like always, please review. They encourage me to continue.**


	5. I Thought I Knew You Better Than That

Chapter 5

Kendall had actually managed to fall asleep. He never thought that he would. When he opened his eyes, he saw that James was lying on his back in his bed, looking at a Cuda magazine.

"What are you doing in here?" asked Kendall as he sat up on the bed.

James looked over at Kendall and smiled.

"Just relaxing."

Maybe now was the perfect time for Kendall to confront James.

"Hey James. Can I talk to you about something for a minute?"

James gave Kendall an odd look, but still placed the magazine aside.

"Ok, what do you want to talk about Kendall?"

"The muffins," said Kendall bluntly. There was no sense beating around the bush.

"The muffins?" asked James. "I thought you wouldn't want to talk about it since Katie got sick off them."

"No. I _want _to talk about the muffins," said Kendall.

"Alright lets talk about the muffins then," said James, seeing no logic in what Kendall wanted to do, but knowing it was futile to sit there and argue with him.

"You say you found them outside the apartment door?" asked Kendall.

"Yes," said James.

"And you saw no one in the hallway in either direction?" asked Kendall.

"No," said James. "I looked and there was no one in either direction."

"And once you brought the muffins into the apartment, what did you do with them?" asked Kendall.

"I brought them in and placed them on the table. Then you came out," said James.

"Ha!" said Kendall suddenly, jumping James. "You just slipped up!"

"Slipped up? What are you talking about?" asked James.

"You said that you brought in the muffins and placed them on the table and then I came out! You never stated that you looked at the white card that came with it, which you did!"

"So I forgot one lousy detail? Is that landing me on the FBI's most wanted criminals list or something?" asked James.

When he saw the look on Kendall's face he knew that he just might have. At least in Kendall's mind.

"You think I poisoned those muffins don't you?" asked James in a deadly whisper.

"If you can happen to forget a detail, what's to say you aren't lying about not poisoning the muffins?" asked Kendall.

James reeled back hurt. He couldn't believe that Kendall was accusing him of poisioning Katie; the little girl that he treated like his own flesh and blood.

"I can't believe you have the audicity to think that I would hurt Katie," said James. "I thought we were buddies Kendall."

"I thought we were too James, but then you framed me for murder-"

"You think that I killed that girl?" asked James. "Are you crazy Kendall?"

"No, you're the crazy one you murderer!" stated Kendall.

James rose to his feet in anger.

"How DARE you accuse me of murder! I thought you knew me better than that!" shouted James.

"I thought I knew you better too James!" shouted Kendall.

"You're some detective," snorted James. "You can't even figure out who the real killer is."

"Well, we'll see about that. You're looking guiltier by the moment. You're staying on my suspect list," said Kendall.

"Do I even dare ask what you think my motive is?" asked James. "I really am dying to know."

"_Dying_ to know?" asked Kendall, eyebrow raised.

"Okay so that wasn't the best choice of words, but you know what I meant," said James crossing his muscled arms across his chest.

"You have always wanted to be famous. You could be jealous that I was the one that Gustavo wanted to make famous and you weren't," said Kendall.

"Really dude?" James said as he placed a hand over his heart. "That hurt."

"Well," said Kendall, "It could be a motive as to why you'd want to see me suffer."

"Look Kendall. I feel awful that you are going through this. We all do. But that doesn't give you the right to tell me that I'm a murderer and my motive is that I am jealous of you. Yea, I may be jealous of you because all I wanted to do in life was feel wanted, but I would _never _do this to you."

With that, James turned on his heel and marched out of the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. Kendall sank back down onto his bed, burying his face in his hands. That was not how he was visualizing that conversation going. That was awful. He didn't know how he was going to get through the night after this. He knew that he would be getting the cold shoulder from James for awhile.

* * *

James brushed one of his hands through his wet hair as he stepped out of the bathroom. He had just taken a shower and was all ready for bed. He walked into the bedroom, wondering how Kendall could think that he was a murderer. Didn't Kendall know him better than that?

James walked into the darkened bedroom that he shared with Kendall and crawled into bed. He knew that Kendall was feeling guilty about what he said. He knew that Kendall would be apologizing for it all night, but James didn't want to hear apologizes. No matter if Kendall meant it or not, James's heart still hurt. The words were spoken and James was still trying to recuperate from the verbal injury.

James rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He was really sleepy tonight. With any luck he might fall asleep before Kendall came into the room. James released a sleepy yawn and closed his eyes.

James was awoken in the middle of the night by a cloth clamped against his mouth. His eyes flew open and he started to claw at the hand holding the cloth over his mouth in panic. He tried to scream out for help, but the cloth was muffling it. James tried to study the face of the person trying to kidnap him, but was rewarded by a face covered in a ski mask.

James could feel himself getting weaker. The cloth was soaked in chloroform and was making him really sleep. His eyelids started to droop. He knew he had to stay awake though and try to fight this intruder, but he just didn't seem to possess the ability to. The last thing that James remembered before he passed out was being quietly dragged out of bed and out of the room.

* * *

Kendall awoke in the middle of the night due to a nightmare. He laid on his back staring up at the ceiling, trying to calm down his rapidly beating heart. He had a dream that the killer had try to come and hurt James. Kendall knew that it was just a dream, but it frightened him all the same.

"James? Are you awake?" asked Kendall. If he was awake, he might as well try and relive his guilty conscience. Kendall knew that James wasn't guilty and he wanted to apologize.

"James, I'm sorry. I spoke way out of line earlier," said Kendall as he laid on his back staring up into the darkness.

James didn't reply. Kendall figured that he wouldn't. He was probably still asleep.

The nightmare that Kendall just had came rushing back at him at full force.

"Maybe I'd better check on James,"

thought Kendall as he got out of bed and walked across the room to James's bed.

Kendall reached James's bed and his heart leapt into his throat. James's bed was empty; the sheets a knotted and tangled mess.

"James?"

Kendall whipped around and searched the pitch black room. Maybe James just went to the bathroom. His nightmare couldn't be real.

Kendall raced out of the bedroom and through the kitchen area before ending up at the bathroom door. It was shut, light shining out from underneath it. Kendall knocked his fist against the door and asked, "James are you in there?"

No answer.

"James?"

Kendall's erratic pounding caused the others to awaken and come see what the commotion was about.

"Kendall it's three in the morning. What are you doing?" asked Logan with a yawn.

"James! I need to know where James is!" stated Kendall pounding on the door even harder.

"Dude he has to do his business. Can't you just let him do it in peace?" asked Carlos wondering what was wrong with Kendall.

Kendall ignored Carlos and threw his body against the door, trying to break in.

"Kendall," said Mrs. Knight crossing her arms. "You really need to go back to bed and calm down."

"Yea, what do you think? Do you think James is dead on the other side of that door or something?" asked Logan with a smirk.

Kendall threw himself against the door one more time and it opened. Kendall stumbled into the bathroom and almost slipped on the floor. Coating his bare feet was a warm, sticky, scarlet substance. Kendall almost threw up as he saw what was before him. James was leaning against the bath tub, unconscious, blood dripping out of a cut on his neck and onto the floor like scarlet tears. Kendall bent down and tried to feel for a pulse. James had a slow pulse, but there was still one all the same.

"Well," said Kendall as he tried to keep the contents of his stomach down. "He's pretty close."

* * *

**AN: Please review! The identity of the killer is getting closer to being revealed! **


	6. Pawns

Chapter 6

Once again Kendall was left alone in the apartment while everyone else rushed with James to the hospital. First Katie was hospitalized, now James. Kendall sat in the darkness of the apartment, praying to his Heavenly Father that James would be okay and that he'd make it out alive.

That officially ruled James out as a possible suspect. There would be no way that he would wound himself to the point of death because of jealousy. So that left Logan and Carlos. He couldn't picture either of them wanting to harm James, but then again he couldn't picture them as murderers in the first place.

This whole mystery was confusing Kendall. He knew that he couldn't take Logan and Carlos off his suspect list yet no matter how much he wanted to. He still had to prove their innocence.

Kendall got up from the couch and stood up. The bathroom light was still on, the door swung wide open. When the paramedics had come to get James, they hadn't bothered turning the lights off. The police had come and looked over the crime scene. They had found some samples of DNA and were taking it back to the lab to be tested. Kendall knew that he wasn't the killer, but he was hoping that the real killer didn't plant his DNA all over the crime scene.

Kendall walked toward the bathroom in tripedation. He knew that he should turn the bathroom light off to save electricity, but he knew that what he saw in the bathroom would tie his stomach into knots once more. As Kendall came into view of the bathroom, he could already see the blood smears all over the cream tiles. He clutched the kitchen counter in order to keep his balance. There was just so much blood.

He managed to reach the bathroom door and held onto the door frame as he grappled for the light switch. With his emerald eyes Kendall could clearly see the smear of scarlet where James's head had been leaning against the tub. Blood seemed to permenantly color the cream tiles a pinkish red. The smell of blood hung in the air, its sickenly sweet odor causing Kendall to gag. It was overwhelming. The police wanted to leave the crime scene alone for the night so they could come back and make a second sweep in the morning. If they had to use the bathroom, they had to use the one down in the lobby. It was a pain, but Kendall wouldn't be able to use the bathroom anyway after seeing James. Maybe the police would clean the bathroom up after their second sweep tomorrow.

Oh James. A fresh wave of nasuea sent him over the edge. Kendall turned his head to the side and tried to gasp the air, trying to keep the contents of his stomach where they were suppose to be. With one quick motion Kendall placed his sweaty palm over the light switch and flicked it off. He hobbled back to the couch, dizzy and nauseous, and threw himself down onto it. He decided that he would try to get some sleep while he was waiting for a call on James's condition. He thought that maybe once he got sleepy and slept, that the horrifying images would leave him alone for a bit. Kendall released a yawn and closed his eyes. As soon as he did, the whole bathroom scene came rushing back at him in all its vividness. Kendall came to two conclusions.

One, he was going to be getting very little sleep again tonight.

And two, once the killer's identity was revealed, he would make the killer pay.

* * *

The phone ringing awoke Kendall out of his half sleeping/half awake state. He reached out for the phone and clumsily clutched it, almost making it topple from the small end table to the floor.

"Hello?" he mumbled into the phone, hoping that it was a report on James's status.

"Hello Kendall. I thought it was time that we finally talked."

The voice on the other end of the phone line was distorted so Kendall couldn't tell who it was. Hearing the distorted voice woke Kendall right up though.

"You! Who are you, you killer?" spit out Kendall.

The person on the other end of the phone line started chuckling.

"Is that any way to treat a friend Kendall?" asked the voice.

"Some friend! You're trying to frame me for a murder that I didn't commit!" said Kendall. "Not to mention that you poisoned Katie and almost killed James!"

"Ah, they were just in the way. They didn't find my game fun Kendall."

"Your game?" asked Kendall. "You honestly think this is a _game_?"

"Yes Kendall don't you see it? You're all pawns. I choose who to knock off and when to knock them off to help you get closer to unmasking my identity," said the voice.

"You're a psycho," stated Kendall. "That's one twisted game! And I don't want a part in it!"

"Too late Kendall. You're already a big part of it," said the voice.

The voice hummed on the other end of the phone line for a minute and Kendall waited with bated breath for what was to be said next.

"Hmmm...I wonder who should be eliminated from our game next? Maybe I should try Logan or Carlos?..."

"Don't you dare go near my friends," said Kendall clenching his hands into fists.

"...what about your mom? She'd be an easy enough target."

"I swear that once I find you, you _will_ pay for what you have done," hissed Kendall in anger.

"Very amusing. But you'll never find out who I am until I want you to. Now I'm on to my next target. Have a nice night and sleep tight Kendall."

The phone suddenly went dead. Kendall could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest. The killer, the real killer, had just called him. But who could the killer be?

None of the pieces of the puzzle seemed to want to click together and form a picture.

Kendall knew that one of his loved ones was in danger. He just didn't know who yet.

He would find out soon enough.

* * *

**AN: As always, review please! :D**


	7. A Little Trip

Chapter 7

Logan stared in horror at James who lay in the hospital bed. His skin held a strange white pallor and the red stitches on his neck stood out sharply against his tanned skin. Logan was not used to seeing James in a hospital bed and he knew that that image would be permenantly engrained in his head for the rest of his life. Logan knew that this would plague his dreams tonight.

"All we can do now is let him rest," said the doctor with a sigh.

The doctor that was standing by James's bedside looked up from his clipboard at them.

"But is he going to be okay?" asked Mrs. Knight in horror.

"Yes, he should make a recovery," said the doctor. "You got him to the hospital just in time."

"Alright, thank you," said Mrs. Knight.

They watched as the doctor left the room and Mrs. Knight turned to them. She was clutching the ends of her shirt in her fists, anxiety etched all over her face.

"Lets go home," Logan suggested.

Katie was still in the hospital being monitored and now James was here. It would certainly be a long car ride back to the Palm Woods without them, but they were all tired and wanted some rest.

Mrs. Knight stood up from her chair, the tears that she was crying leaving red streaks behind on her cheeks. She walked over to James and placed her hand on top of his head in a motherly gesture of affection.

"We'll be back in the morning to check on you James. Get your rest and get better. You're safe here," said Mrs. Knight.

James didn't respond because he was still eduring the effects of the sedative that the doctor had given him. That caused Mrs. Knight to cry even harder.

"Mama Knight," said Carlos as he crept up quietly behind her and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "I think we should go now. He'll be okay."

Mrs. Knight nodded her head as another round of tears clutched her being and left her helpless. Carlos wrapped his arm around her and led her out of the hospital room. Logan followed behind them with his head bent down, deep in thought, wondering who the killer was.

"Do you want to see Katie before we go home?" asked Carlos in a gentle, soothing voice.

Mrs. Knight nodded her head slowly. Carlos led her to a room a little ways down the hall where Katie was. Logan was right behind them. Katie laid in her hospital bed, watching a television set that was suspended from the ceiling. She looked really bony because they had made her throw up a majority of her stomach contents to rid her body of the poison. On top of already being sick, having her stomach pumped wasn't helping her condition.

"Hi Mom," said Katie in a weak voice, taking her red, bloodshot eyes off the television.

"Hi sweetie," said Mrs. Knight, trying to not to give in to her crying again.

"Have you been here for a while?" asked Katie. "Carlos seems to be trying to hold you together."

Katie knew that having someone be her mother's strength was unnatural.

"Yes," said Mrs. Knight. "James has been admitted to the hospital."

"What happened?" asked Katie immediately alarmed.

"He was...he was..."

"He was left for dead in the bathroom," said Logan finishing Mrs. Knight's sentence. "Someone cut his neck open and left him there to bleed to death."

"How awful!" gasped Katie. "Is he going to make it?"

"Yes, he's just in a very weak state at the moment," replied Mrs. Knight.

"Mom, it's okay to cry," said Katie with a sympathetic smile. "There's no need to try to be brave just for me."

Mrs. Knight let the tears run down her face. She leaned her head on Carlos's shoulder as he hushed her, trying to get her to feel better.

"How about you go home and rest Mom?" suggested Katie. "The doctors say that I might be able to go home in the next day or two.

"Alright," said Mrs. Knight. "Love you Katie."

"Love you too Mom," said Katie blowing her a kiss.

Mrs. Knight walked over and kissed Katie on the forehead before leaving the room with Carlos and Logan.

"And it is down to three," muttered Logan under his breath.

They were all seeming to drop like flies. Who would be next? That question was in the corner of Logan's mind and caused him to become consumed by fear and worry.

They got to the parking garage outside of the hospital and went over to the maroon convertible that Gustavo had bought them. Logan climbed into the driver's seat and Carlos and Mrs. Knight got into the back. Logan started the car engine and started to drive home.

The road they were driving on was deserted. It wasn't one of the major traffic roads. Logan had made sure of that. He was uneasy about driving through tons of traffic, especially late at night. He was driving the car because he knew Mrs. Knight wasn't emotionally stable and Carlos was her source of comfort.

They were cruising along the road just fine. They were half way back to the Palm Woods when the car went over a huge bump. The three of them were tossed about. Logan almost lost control of the vehicle. He managed to steer it toward the side of the road before they violently came to a stop.

"What just happened?" asked Carlos from the back seat, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I don't know," said Logan rubbing his neck too. "I'll have to get out and look."

Logan got out of the car and looked to see what had happened. That was when he noticed that one of the front tires had a flat.

"We have a flat," announced Logan.

"Do we have a spare?" asked Mrs. Knight.

Logan popped the trunk and peeked inside.

"Nope," he confirmed.

"Well what are we going to do now then?" asked Carlos knowing that Logan was the brains and would think of something.

"We'll have to either walk to the Palm Woods or wait for a car to go by and flag them down," said Logan.

"Can't you call Camille or something to come pick us up?" asked Mrs. Knight.

"None of the other people I know own their own vehicle. They use a taxi," said Logan.

As they were talking, Carlos saw the faint glimmer of headlights in the distance in the rearview mirror.

"Speaking of a taxi, is that one coming toward us in the distance?" asked Carlos as he turned around and pointed at a taxi coming toward them.

Logan and Mrs. Knight looked in the direction that Carlos was pointing and indeed saw a taxi coming toward them.

"Hey! Pull over!" shouted Logan as he walked into the road, waving his arms above his head.

The taxi's headlights caught Logan in their gaze and braked to a halt. The taxi driver didn't roll down their window so Logan just decided to tell the driver what they needed before the driver got ticked.

"Can we get a lift? We have a flat," said Logan.

Still the window didn't roll down. There was no beeping either so Logan took it as a sign that the driver wasn't irritated.

"So is it okay?" asked Logan wearily.

Logan was smart so he knew that something wasn't right about this driver, but he decided to push his logic aside. They had to get home to Kendall. Plus they were really tired.

"Alright then. Thanks. Mrs. Knight, Carlos how about you get in the taxi?" asked Logan.

He walked to the side of the taxi and held the door open for them. They were both weary but got out of the car and over to the taxi, trusting Logan. They got into the backseat of the taxi.

"I'll be right there," said Logan. "I just need to grab my cell phone. I left it in the car."

Logan walked over to the car. He had his back toward the taxi and was bent over in the car when he heard Mrs. Knight shriek out, "YOU!"

That exclaimation was followed by the violent slam of the taxi door. Logan whipped around so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash. He saw the shadow of the taxi driver as they got back into the driver's seat and slammed the door. Logan started to run toward the car to try to save Carlos and Mrs. Knight, but the driver floored the taxi and went flying down the street. By the time Logan was by the side of the road where the taxi had been a moment ago, it was long gone.

Logan couldn't believe that he was so stupid. He dropped to his knees in despair. As his knees hit the dirt ground, he noticed a note. It was probably one the taxi driver had dropped. Logan unfolded the note. It was put together with letters cut out of various magazines. Logan read the note and his heart leapt up into his throat.

_As you know, I have taken Jennifer Knight and Carlos Garcia for a little trip._

_I'd like you and Kendall to make the trip too. Maybe I'll have to come pick you two up sometime._

_Tell Kendall that I said hi._

_And that his mom and Carlos only have twenty four hours to live._

* * *

**AN: Review, review, review! The killer is getting closer to be revealed! :D**


	8. Ready or Not

Chapter 8

Kendall was awoken from his slumber by someone shaking his shoulder. His eyes flew open as he became immediately alert. The room was just starting to lighten up with the early morning sun, which caused Logan to be outlined in light oranges and pinks.

"What's wrong Logan?" asked Kendall, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. At least he had managed to catch an hour long nap.

"Carlos...your mom...," said Logan trying to catch his breath.

"What happened?" asked Kendall as he became fully awake and noticed that Carlos and his mom weren't with Logan.

"On the way home we got a flat. I flagged a taxi down and your mom and Carlos got in the back of the taxi while I ran to get my cell out of the vehicle. I heard your mom scream and then-"

"And then what?" asked Kendall.

Instead of replying, Logan handed Kendall the note he had found. Kendall snatched the note outu of Logan's grasp and quickly read what was on the page.

"I'm sorry Kendall. I really am."

Kendall looked up from the note, rage burning in his eyes. Logan saw that and immediately became wary.

"Kendall..."

Kendall threw the note aside and leapt up from the couch. He grabbed Logan by the shoulders and pushed him up against the television mount. Pain crossed Logan's face from the abrupt impact.

"What was that for?" asked Logan.

"You know what that was for!" shouted out Kendall. "This is all your fault! You are the killer and your accomplice helped you kidnap Carlos and my mom!"

"What?! Are you insane?" asked Logan staring into the fiery emerald eyes of his best friend.

"Maybe," said Kendall tightening his grip on Logan's shoulders. "Want to find out? If not, how about you start talking."

"Kendall, I would never do this! Do you think I would be this scared if I was the one behind all this?" asked Logan, his heart racing a hundred miles a minute.

"You could be scared if you knew I was on to you," said Kendall.

"Kendall listen to logic! I'm not a killer!" shouted Logan.

Kendall grabbed Logan's throat, slowly clutching it tighter and tighter.

"I don't want to hear anymore lies from you!"

"Kendall..." gasped out Logan clawing at Kendall's hands, trying to get him to loosen his grip.

Kendall saw the look of pure terror in his best friend's eyes. What was Kendall thinking? He wasn't a killer. Kendall released his grip on Logan's throat and immediately Logan bent over, heaving, trying to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry," said Kendall. "This is just too much for me to deal with."

Logan straightened up and looked at Kendall. Tears were starting to fall out of Kendall's eyes as he buried his face in his hands and mumbled, "Who am I kidding? I'll never find the real killer."

"Don't talk like that," said Logan adamantly. "We'll find them."

Logan didn't like seeing their leader give up hope. If he gave up hope, then what could they believe in? Logan walked over to Kendall and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

"Come on Kendall. You can't give up now. There are lives on the line," insisted Logan.

"You're right," said Kendall as he took a shaky deep breath and placed his hands back down at his side. "I'm sorry that I ever thought you were the killer. That was wrong of me. Can you forgive me?"

"Yes," said Logan knowing that he couldn't stay mad at Kendall.

"So, what do we do now? How are we suppose to find the killer?" asked Kendall.

A sudden knock at the door made both of them jump about an inch in the air.

"Who is it?" called out Kendall.

There was no answer.

"Oh my word Kendall! What if it's the killer?" asked Logan in a scared whisper.

Quietly Kendall walked toward the kitchen. He picked up a knife that laid on the counter and clutched it tightly in one of his sweaty hands. The sunlight slithered across the floor of the apartment, lighting up all the dark places, as Kendall and Logan slowly inched closer to the door.

"Who is it?" asked Kendall again as he rested one of his hands on the doorknob.

Still no answer.

Kendall turned the doorknob and yanked the door open. Logan stood behind Kendall, ready to use him for protection. No one stood on the other side of the door. Kendall poked his head out, careful to keep the knife hidden behind his back so the security cameras couldn't see it. He didn't need more evidence placed against him. Kendall scanned the hallway and was completely satisfied that no one was there. Right before he brought his head back into the apartment he noticed a note that was taped to the door. Kendall grabbed it and brought it back into the apartment as he shut the door.

"Oh no! Not another one," moaned Logan in terror.

Kendall's hands were starting to shake as he unfolded the note. Once again the note was written with letters cut out of a magazine. Kendall's eyes scanned the note a couple of times before he read Logan the single line that was on it.

"It says, _Meet me in the basement_," said Kendall quietly.

"Well, that's good right? I mean, the killer doesn't want to get you into too much trouble. Maybe the killer just wants to meet with you to talk to you and tell you it's all a big mistake. You're technically not leaving Palm Woods property so you could go and meet the killer and try to straighten things out," blurted out Logan quickly, fear taking control of his talking speed.

"Logan take a deep breath. You're freaking out," said Kendall who remembered his own meltdown a few minutes earlier. "I guess I got what I wanted. I know where the killer is."

Logan nodded his head in agreement, even if his knees were about to smote together.

What Kendall didn't say aloud was, _"But am I really ready to face the killer?"_

_"Am I ready to die?"_

* * *

**AN: I bet you're all wondering what's going to happen in the basement now, but I'm afraid that's just gonna have to be another chapter. ;) **

**As always, I appreciate receiving your reviews. They are my source of motivation. That's why this chapter was up so fast. Thank you guys for all of your support.**

**If you have a guess as to who the killer may be, please tell me through reviews or a PM. If you have already made a guess as to who the killer is, could you please resubmit your guess so I can make sure that, when the time comes, I give a shout out to ****_everyone_**** that got it right and not mistakenly leave someone out. **

**Again, thank you for reading! You made my day! :D**

**O Ink Spotz O**


	9. The Basement

Chapter 9

The basement was dark and damp. It was just what Kendall was expecting.

"I thought that the basement wouldn't be so... basementy in a hotel," said Logan not sure how to word what he was thinking.

The two of them stepped off the elevator. As soon as they stood on the other side of the elevator door, the doors closed behind them. Logan gulped and hid behind Kendall. Kendall had told Logan that he didn't mind if he didn't want to come, but Logan had insisted on coming.

Kendall took a couple of steps forward, his feet seeming to stick to the concrete floor. There were a couple of lights on, but they were flickering, threatening to stop giving light. Kendall could see that a huge boiler lay farther ahead where the light didn't penetrate the darkness. He could see the boiler's mammoth flame and hear its growl from where he stood. Along the hallway that was right in front of him were rows of gray, metal doors. They were embedded in a gray brick wall. The doors had name plates on them, but most of them were hanging on by one nail. You could tell that the basement had seen better days.

Kendall continued to walk forward even though he was nervous. He looked at the doors as they passed them, wondering where exactly they would meet the killer. He would momentarily pause outside of each door to see if he could hear his Mom or Carlos behind them. The door that was located right before the dark zone intrigued Kendall. He could hear murmurs coming from behind it. He reached out a shaking hand and tried to turn the doorknob only to discover that the door was locked.

"Rats! It's locked!" said Kendall.

"RATS!" screamed Logan jumping into Kendall's arms. "I HATE rats!"

Kendall rolled his eyes and dropped Logan out of his hands. Logan managed to land on his feet.

"I didn't mean actually rats," said Kendall.

Kendall went back to the door, wondering how he was going to open it. He pulled on the doorknob hoping that it was loose. It wasn't.

"Logan do you have any ideas?" asked Kendall.

There was no answer from behind him. Kendall turned around to see that where Logan had once been standing was vacant. He had only turned his back on Logan for at least a minute.

"Ha ha. Very funny Logan. Cut the joke and come out," said Kendall, trying to keep his fear at bay.

Kendall looked toward the darkness and gulped. What if the killer had taken Logan and dragged him that way? Kendall looked down at the floor where Logan had just been standing and noticed the thinnest trace of dust from his sneakers. He allowed his eyes to trace the trail of the dust and saw that it did confirm his worst fear. The killer had dragged Logan into the darkness.

"Alright!" said Kendall. "You have taken this too far! Come and show yourself now you coward!"

A chilling scream sliced through the air, making goosebumps appear on his arm. The scream belonged to Logan.

"No! Please! DON'T!" screamed Logan before all went silent.

"Logan?"

No reply.

"Logan!"

Still nothing.

"Alright Knight you can do this," said Kendall trying to give himself a pep talk. "Lives depend on you being brave. So you're going to go into the darkness and find this killer. You'll confront whoever the killer is, get Logan back, and find the key to the locked room. You can do this."

Kendall notcied a small shelf off to the side. On one of the shelves was a box of matches. He walked over to the shelf and grabbed the box of matches. There was only one match inside.

The killer probably left it for him.

That thought made Kendall's hand start to shake. He struck the single match against the wall and managed to make it light.

Kendall held the match out in front of him as he started to walk into the darkness. The boiler was still quite a ways away from where Kendall was so everything around Kendall was pitch black. He kept flashing the match around, wondering where the killer and Logan were hiding. That's when he stepped in something sticky. Kendall looked down and saw that he had stepped right into a pool of blood. He held his match up and saw that there was a blood trail leading off to the left. He started to follow it. By the time he reached the end of the trail, his heart leapt up into his throat. Logan was in front of him, passed out; his arms strung up to the shelving. His face was an off shade of white, dark bruises under his eyes. Cuts lined Logan's arms and neck. He looked dead or close to it.

"Logan!" shouted Kendall as he was about to race toward him.

Before Kendall could race toward Logan, a hand clamped down on Kendall's shoulder.

"Hello Kendall. It's about time we met."

Kendall whipped around and his mouth dropped open.

"It's YOU!"

That was when Kendall's match burnt out.

* * *

**AN: This is your last chance to guess who the killer is before it's revealed! :D **

**I also want to know if you want to see this story continue for a while. I have ideas on how to continue this story or on the sequel. If you could please check out my poll on my home page and vote on that, it'd be great! Thanks! **


	10. The Reveal

Chapter 10

Kendall knew that the killer was in front of him in the darkness. He was half glad that the light of the match had burnt out so the killer couldn't see the fear on his face.

"Come Kendall. Lets talk. I'm sure you want to shed some light on this subject after all."

"Course I do," snapped Kendall. "How about you start by telling me why?"

The killer laughed a laugh traced with malice.

"You don't have that figured out already?"

Kendall at the moment was trying to figure that out in his head. He was having a hard time with that. He wasn't sure what this person's motive was.

"No. I have no idea what your motive could be."

"Ha! I can't believe that I pulled so much over you Kendall. I thought you would catch a hint when I said that I knew you weren't a knife weilding killer. I mean, the police never did release what weapon killed poor, innocent Stacy Rose."

"You're really sick," said Kendall, his stomach twisting into knots at the reminder of the dead girl.

"Not sick Kendall. I'm a genius," said the killer.

"You're sick," said Kendall again. "I'm sticking to that."

"Call me whatever you want Kendall, but just remember. I hold the fate of everyone you love in my hands."

Kendall didn't forget that. He gulped, trying to slow his rapidly beating heart.

"If you think you're so clever, why don't you tell me the reason why you did this?" suggested Kendall.

"I did it because I'm jealous of you," said the killer simply, as if that was enough reason to do anything.

"You're jealous of me?" asked Kendall with a short laugh. He couldn't stop himself. He knew that he and everyone he cared about faced death, but the fact that this person was jealous of him was too unbelievable to be true.

"Yes I'm jealous of you. You have the perfect life. You get to get recognized for everything and anything that you do. I just want to take part in one curtain call. Is that too much to ask? Just one. I want to be recogonized and appreciated for what I do at least once."

"Well you'll certainly get recognized once I expose you to the police," said Kendall. "You'll get your curtain call then."

"I won't take the curtain call for this one. Instead I'll swoop in and take your limelight. I've never had a singing career, but who says I wouldn't be good at it?" asked the killer.

"You won't get away with this," stated Kendall.

"That's what they all say," said the killer, "right before they die."

That was when Kendall felt a cloth go over his mouth. It was soaked with chloroform. Kendall tried to get it off his mouth but he was already too weak to.

"When the police find you, it'll be a sad spectacle. I can see the headlines now, 'Killer Suicide: Haunted by his victims, Kendall Knight takes his life'."

That was when the world faded away from around Kendall and he passed out.

When Kendall woke up, he noticed that he was lying on his back in darkness. He sat up and tried to figure out where he was. He wasn't quite sure. He was cold and felt the dampness of his location throughout his body. That was when he determined that he must still be in the basement.

Kendall stood up and gropped for a light source. He finally found one along the far wall and flicked the light on.

What he saw scared the crap out of him.

James, Katie, Carlos, Logan, and his Mom were all unconcious in the room with him; their faces all extremely pale. To Kendall, they all looked dead.

Kendall rushed toward them and tried to wake them all up. Tears were streaming down his face as worry choked him.

"Please don't be dead on me," he whimpered. "Please."

"Don't go crying yet," moaned a voice from behind Kendall.

Kendall whipped around and saw that James had woken up. Kendall went over to James and helped prop him upright.

"James, I'm so glad that you're alive still. I'm sorry for accusing you of being a killer," said Kendall still crying.

"Don't worry Kendall. I forgive you. I know that you are under a lot of stress. If I was in your shoes, I probably would have found some reason to accuse you too," assured James.

"How did you get here? I thought you and Katie were still in the hospital," said Kendall.

"How else? It was the killer. It was..."

Before James could finish his sentence, Kendall could hear the others stir from their unconcious state. He rushed over to all of them, happy to see that they were still alive.

"Alright, so what are we going to do now?" asked Katie. "I mean, I would like to escape with my life."

"I know Katie. We'll think of something," said Kendall.

He knew that now he had to focus. No matter how much he wanted to break down and cry from relief, he had to figure out a way to escape.

That was when the steel door in the room they were in opened. In the doorway stood the killer.

"Ah, what a cute family reunion we have here!"

"I'm going to-"

Kendall rose to his feet and charged the killer.

"Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast blondie."

Kendall felt pain cripple his being as he got a swift kick in the groin. The killer looked down at Kendall with a smile as he lay writhing on the floor.

"At least I let you guys die together. But for this to look like a suicide, I have to do one more thing."

Kendall watched as the killer towered above him with a knife in his hands. Before Kendall had time to do anything, Carlos was on top of the killer, trying to get the knife out of his hands.

As Carlos and the killer fought, Kendall tried to rise to his feet. He rose to his feet just in time to catch Carlos who was falling backward, the knife embedded in his chest.

The killer yanked the knife out of the slumped Carlos who was resting in Kendall's arms. Kendall looked down at Carlos in horror; the blood soaking the latino's shirt.

"What a shame! But he was in the way! Now it's your turn!"

Kendall was still too numbed by shock to listen to the warning bells blaring in his head. Before he knew it, the killer had stabbed the knife into his chest.

Kendall gasped at the burst of pain that shot through his body. He collapsed to the floor with Carlos; the two of them lying on the floor next to each other, dying.

"Enjoy your last moments together," said the killer as he looked around the room with apparent satisfaction.

Kendall clawed for the knife in his chest, trying to get a grip on it in order to pull it out. His hands were shaking too much. He couldn't get a hold of it to pull it out of his chest.

"Time for me to turn the carbon monoxide on for the rest of your friends and family. I wouldn't want them to be alone in life after all. I do have a heart," said the killer. "Oh by the way Kendall, don't worry. I'll take good care of Jo for you."

The door shut, locking them all in the room to die. Kendall could hear the hiss of carbon monoxide seeping into their closed off room. Even though the killer had probably walked off by now, Kendall sucked in a breath of air which made his chest hurt severely and screamed out, "ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, YOU _WILL_ PAY FOR ALL THAT YOU'VE DONE JETT STETSON!"

* * *

**AN: ****So there you go, the killer is Jett Stetson! Haha! I will be uploading more chapters to this story because I'm sure you don't want me to leave it there. I would still love to get reviews though. I want to know what you guys think will happen next! **

**Now it's time for the shout outs! There were nine of you that were very clever detectives who discovered that the guilty one was Jett. Those people are:**

**Kittybookworm**

**Littlewing**

**Liv**

**Big Time Stories**

**AkireAlev**

**november 2 1990**

**xScreamingFromBehindTheVeilx**

**alethea13**

**jhansikirani17025**

**My sincerest congratulations to these authors! Great deducting skills! **

**Like I said, please review. I'll have to do another guess who contest again soon. ;D **

**And for all of you who want to know what the definition of a curtain call, here is the definition as defined by the internet. "****A curtain call (walkdown, bow) occurs at the end of a performance when individuals return to the stage to be recognized by the audience for their performance."**


	11. Escaping

Chapter 11

The pain was intense. Kendall didn't know how much of this he was expected to take. From his position on his back, he could see the blade of the knife sticking out of his chest, but he didn't possess the strength to yank it out. If the knife didn't get yanked out soon, he'd bleed to death. Just as Kendall's head started to feel light, he felt someone gripping his hand. He turned his head to the side to notice that it was James. His Mom was crying and sitting on the other side of him with Katie. Logan was over by Carlos, trying to rise him back into a state of conciousness.

"It'll be okay," assured James. "Just stay with us until Logan comes over."

James squeezed Kendall's hand again in an attempt to keep him awake. Kendall just wanted to go to sleep so bad.

"Kendall, you've got to keep your eyes open. You've lost a lot of blood and if you drift off to sleep now, you more than likely will die," stated James.

Logan came over just then and bent over Kendall.

"How's...Carlos..." choked out Kendall through the waves of pain that clutched him.

"He'll live. He's just lost a lot of blood," said Logan. "I stopped the flow for now, but he'll need to be taken to a hospital after we get out of here."

"If we get out of here," added James with a tight grimace.

"We... _will... _get... out... of... here," stated Kendall gasping due to the sharp shooting pain.

"His words are becoming further apart!" shouted Logan. "We're losing him! Make sure you keep him awake James!"

"Don't...worry...bout...that...I'm...so...sleepy," said Kendall, his eyelids drooping.

"No Kendall. You have got to stay awake," begged James crying.

Logan looked at the knife that was jutting out of Kendall's chest. Blood was pooling all around the blade, soaking his shirt. Logan took a deep breath of the contiminated air and started to cough. He had to remember that taking deep breaths of this air could end up killing him. Trying to steady his nerves, he looked up at James. He could see the tears spilling out of his eyes and knew that James was worried about Kendall. They all were. James just wasn't as good at hiding it.

"James," started Logan.

James brought his eyes away from Kendall's twitching gaze and stared at Logan. Logan's chest immediately hurt more than it did seeing the pain that was reflected in his friend's chocolate brown eyes. Their usual joyful spark was gone.

"James, I need you to hold Kendall tight. Though he is fighting to remain concious, once I start pulling at this blade to remove it, he'll probably try to fight. It's going to be painful, but it'll be worse if I leave the blade in," instructed Logan. "Can you do it?"

James nodded his head "yes", too choked up by sadness to reply. He placed his hands on both of Kendall's shoulders. He bent his head down and looked into the weakened emerald eyes.

"Kendall, I need you to stay awake. Logan is going to try to remove the knife," said James, his voice quivering.

"K..." said Kendall in a sleepy murmur.

Logan knew that he had to do it quick or they'd lose Kendall. Logan momentairly looked up to see Mrs. Knight hugging Katie tight to her chest, crying rivers of tears. He could just imagine how that pain would intensify in a moment. Logan looked at James and asked, "Ready?"

James once again nodded his head "yes".

Logan gripped the handle of the knife tightly in his hand.

"I'm sorry Kendall," said Logan as he grabbed the knife and started to tug it from his body.

A pain beyond comprehension gripped Kendall and held him prisoner. Kendall released a blood curling scream that could have shattered everyone's eardrum. Kendall arched his back in an attempt to get away from the pain, but James kept his grip on Kendall firm. More tears slipped out of James's eyes as he held Kendall captive to the pain. Mrs. Knight bit her lip in order to hold back her own screams of pain from seeing her baby boy in pain. Katie just stared at the spectacle, too shocked to react. Logan's hand wanted to shake, but he knew he had to keep his grip steady in order to not hurt Kendall further.

Logan finally managed to get the knife free of Kendall. Kendall gasped at the pain that seemed to escape with the blade and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Logan dropped the knife onto the cement ground beside him, the blood that coated the blade spilling onto the gray ground.

"Darn it, James! I told you to keep him awake!" shouted Logan in panic.

Logan bent over Kendall and said, "Sorry again Kendall, but this is for your own good."

Logan brought one of his hands up and slapped Kendall across the face in an attempt to wake him up. Kendall groaned and Logan let out a sigh of relief.

"He's alive," gasped out Logan.

James released a sigh of relief while Mrs. Knight let out a whimper of joy.

"We're not in the clear yet though. Both Kendall and Carlos need to get to the hospital and we have to get out of this room before we die of carbon monoxide inhalation," said Logan.

Logan immediately felt like he was in the leadership position since the orignial leader, Kendall, was unconcious at the present moment. James wasn't going to be much help because he was a mess. Neither was Mrs. Knight or Katie. He would have to do this. He knew that he could if he really tried.

Logan rose to his feet and walked over to the door. He knew that if he tried to pull the doorknob he would just discover that it was locked. Logan looked up and searched the ceiling. Typically in rooms where there wasn't a window, there was a vent of some sort. Logan searched his gaze across the ceiling, looking for a vent. He coughed momentarily and that's when his heart leapt up into his throat in fear.

The carbon monoxide was starting to have an effect on his system.

Just when Logan felt like giving up hope, he noticed a vent in the far corner of the room, partially hidden in the shadows. Logan rushed over to it and started to tug at it. It was screwed in place.

"James, help me find a screwdriver. We have to get this vent open," commanded Logan.

James wiped away the tears that were still resting on his checks and gently took his hold off Kendall. He got to his feet and started to help Logan search the room for a screwdriver. They finally found a rusted one on the top shelf of a precarious metal structure. Logan took the screwdriver and, with shaking hands, tried to unscrew the vent. He finally managed to and threw the grating aside.

"Mrs. Knight! Katie! Get over here and crawl through the vent!" ordered Logan.

Even though Mrs. Knight was in a state of pain still and Katie was still trying to overcome her shock, they obeyed Logan's order and crawled over to where he was. They soon disappeared into the vent.

"Okay James. Now one of us has to drag Carlos and the other has to drag Kendall," instructed Logan.

"I'll take Kendall," said James.

"Okay, then I'll take Carlos," said Logan, realizing just what a sensitive soul James was underneath his muscular exterior.

They went over to Carlos and Kendall. They placed their hold under their arms and started to drag them over to the vent. Logan and Carlos went first, followed closely by James and Kendall. As James dragged Kendall through the vent, Kendall was completely absorbed in his subconcious.

_Kendall was back home in Minnesota. It was snowing outside; the snowflakes steaming on the window, leaving behind little rivers of water. Kendall held a Christmas gift in his hands. He was trying to be patient, but the five year old spirit inside him wanted to rip open the gift right there and then. Kendall looked up at his Mom who was rocking his infant sister even though she had long since fallen asleep._

_"Mom can I..."_

_"No Kendall. Wait until your father comes home," said his Mom, tight lipped._

_She was staring out the window into the snow storm and you could see the worry written all over her face._

_Suddenly, the phone rang. It was a jarring sound to hear amongst the tinkling of the chimes on the porch as they were being blown in the wind._

_Kendall's Mom got up to answer the phone, placing baby Katie down in a small cradel. Kendall looked after his Mom with big green eyes, wondering who would be calling at this late hour. When his Mom came back in the living room and sat down, tears were running down her face._

_"Your father is not coming home," she said. "You can open your present now."_

_"What do you mean?" asked Kendall. "Is he okay?"_

_"Your father won't be coming home again," she said, tears slipping down her face._

_At that young age, Kendall knew that something had happened. He just didn't know what._

Kendall rose from his state of conicousness to see that he was in a vent. He felt weak from the blood loss that he suffered, but still brought his head up to see why he was lying in a vent. He couldn't lift his head too far up because he was in a small ventalation system, but from what he could see, he gulped in horror. He was back in a living nightmare for everyone that he loved was passed out in front of him due to carbon monoxide inhalation.


	12. Rescued into Uncertainty

Chapter 12

"Guys," said Kendall, his voice pinched in panic. "Guys wake up!"

No noise. No murmurs. Nothing.

Katie, his precious baby sister, was as white as a ghost in the face. His mother looked worse. Her red hair hung limply across her slack face. Logan and James were lying on their stomachs, arms stretched out ahead of them. They were probably the ones who were dragging him and Carlos. Oh, and poor heroic Carlos! He lay on his stomach, his skin a whitish blue color. If he didn't get them to wake up, they'd probably be dead soon. No one in the Palm Woods would find them either until their bodies started to decay and stink.

"Stop it Kendall," he chided himself. "You can't think those thoughts! You've got to get out of here!"

Kendall tried to prop himself up with his elbows when pain shot through him. He had somehow managed to forget that he just got done being stabbed in the chest with a knife. Kendall clenched his teeth and continued to prop himself up. He'd have time to dwell in pain later. Right now, he had to save his family and stop the killer from getting away.

Once propped up on his elbows, Kendall reached toward James and tugged on his leg. No response from him still. Kendall peered ahead and saw that the exit to the vent lay a couple feet ahead away. Fresh air was within reach.

The vent was cramed with their bodies, but Kendall had to make it to the vent. Kendall pushed James's body up against the side of the vent and tried to slide under his body. He had to do the same thing with Carlos, Logan, his mom, and Katie. By the time he made it to the grate, he was feeling extremely light headed again.

Kendall reached out and grasped the grating of the vent. He pushed and pulled, trying to get it to give way. It wasn't budging.

"Help," choked out Kendall weakily. "Anyone."

The only sound that Kendall got in response was the roar of the furnace as it heated up once more.

"No," cried Kendall breaking down, allowing the tears of frustration to roll down his cheeks. "No..."

Suddenly Kendall heard some rustling. He peered out the grating. Even though they were in an elevated vent in the basement, Kendall could look down into the gloom and see a flashlight beam. Kendall hesitated breifly. What if it was the killer? Kendall decided to yell for help still even if it was the killer. They were about to die. What difference could it possibly make? At least he would die trying.

"Hey! Up here!" yelled Kendall as loud as he could in his weakened state.

The flashlight beam stopped its sweep of the basement. Kendall held his breath and yelled again. The beam soon pointed upward at his face and a familiar gruff voice asked, "Who goes there?"

Kendall wanted to cry again; this time with relief. It was Buddha Bob!

"It's me! Kendall!" he shouted.

"What are you doing up there Kendall?" asked Buddha Bob.

"It's a long story! But we need help!"

"We?..."

"Yes, my whole family is up here! Please Buddha Bob! Help us get down! We need to get to a hospital!"

"I'll get you guys down in a jiffy!" exclaimed Buddha Bob.

Kendall could hear various clinks and clanks as Buddha Bob searched for something in the basement that could help them escape the ventilation system. Buddha Bob found a ladder and climbed up to the vent.

"What's going on?" he asked as he unscrewed the vent.

"Jett tried to kill us," gasped out Kendall, feeling weaker than he had ever felt in his whole life. "We need to stop him."

"I thought you said you need to get to a hospital?" said Buddha Bob, clearly confused.

"That too!" exclaimed Kendall exasperated.

Buddha Bob finally managed to get the vent undone and he reached his arms in to help Kendall out. One by one, they got out of the vent system and were handed down the ladder to Kendall who was at the other end. Kendall didn't know how he had the strength to stand up let alone hold each of his loved ones in his arms until he could gently put them on the ground. When the last of his loved ones was placed gently on the floor, Kendall felt the full extent of his injuries. The concrete floor underneath his feet seemed to call his name, beackoning for him to lie down, and he felt like he was going to collapse. He didn't know if it was out of relief or out of exhaustation. Probably a combination of the two.

"I'll get an ambulance," said Buddha Bob. "Just stay right here."

"K...call the police too. They have to know about Jett," mumbled Kendall as he laid down on the floor and curled up into a ball, his eyelids fluttering, threatening to go back to sleep now that he knew everyone was safe.

The last thing that Kendall saw before he closed his eyes was Buddha Bob quickly exiting the basement to go get help.

* * *

_Snow. There was just so much snow._

_It was so cold. Kendall wrapped his arms around his shivering body in a vain attempt to keep himself warm. A little ways ahead in the snowy blizzard, Kendall could see the shadow of his Mom talking to a police man by a wrecked car. The wrecked car looked like it had skidded off the icy road and hit a tree, completely destroying the front end of it. Kendall was told to stay in the car and watch Katie, but she was asleep. Plus standing outside it wasn't like he was abandoning her. Kendall was too worried about his Mom to stay out of the cold._

_"I DON'T CARE!" he heard his Mom's voice yell, intensifying in pitch. "WHERE IS HE?"_

_"I don't know madam," said the police officer._

_"You said he died in the crash so why am I told that nobody can find his body?"_

_Kendall knew his Mom was shuttering with tears. He could tell by the sound of her voice._

_The wind seemed to be picking up. Kendall whipped his head to the west to glance across the icy pond that lay a little ways away. The wind was starting to blow so hard that it was picking up the soft snow and blowing it across the ground, creating a wall of pure white._

_Kendall squinted his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things, for across the pond Kendall thought he saw a shadow of a man. But once the wind died down, Kendall saw that whatever had made the shadow was gone and that he was left once again with his broken Mom and baby sister._

_Even though Kendall was only five, he knew that it was time for him to step up and be the man of the house. He had to care for the women in his life now that his Dad was gone. He could see what his Mom looked like once his Dad left their lives. He couldn't bear to see that pain again._

_He had to be the man that didn't fade away when the winds of chaos died down._

* * *

"CLEAR!"

A pulse of electricity surged through Kendall's chest. Kendall could feel the pain throughout his chest, but he did not possess the strength to open his eyes.

"CLEAR!"

Another pulse of electricity. This time Kendall managed to open his eyes. Groaning, he looked upward into the bright florescent lights surrounding him.

"He's alive!"

Kendall looked to his side and saw ecstatic doctors. That was when everything came flooding back to him. He was in the hospital. They all were. But where was everyone else?

"Where..."

"Don't talk," commanded the doctor, silencing Kendall's question before it could even be spoken. "You need to regain your strength."

"Where is my family?" choked out Kendall, not willing to be silenced.

"They're fine..."

Just by looking at the small speckles of fear reflected in the doctor's eyes, the fear caused by uncertainty, Kendall knew that something was wrong. He had seen that look before when his Mom lost his Dad.

"You're lying!" declared Kendall. "YOU'RE LYING!"

"We need to sedate him," commented the doctor. "We need to calm him down."

Kendall knew that there was something terribly wrong. He wasn't insane.

A needle punctured Kendall's skin and Kendall could feel himself getting sleepy. The last thought that he thought before he went to sleep was that Jett had permanently damaged his family and he would make sure he paid.


	13. Recuperating

Chapter 13

"I told you to make sure they were DEAD!"

Jett brought the cell phone away from his ear, wincing at how loud the voice on the other end of the line was.

"I thought they were! I had it all planned out!" stammered Jett. "I trapped them in a room with carbon monoxide and I stabbed Kendall and Carlos."

"Well apparently it wasn't good enough!"

Jett's hand was starting to shake. He didn't mean to cause this anger. He was just doing his job.

"Why do you want them dead so bad for?" asked Jett, innocently curious why he was tasked with wiping them off the face of the earth.

"You don't get to ask me questions. Understand? You're just suppose to do your job."

Jett could tell that he had just made the anger grow.

"I'm sorry...I'll do better next time," said Jett.

"You'd better. You're lucky that I have a Plan B and I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself."

"Thank you," said Jett. "I really am grateful. What's my job?"

"You're to kidnap Jo, Lucy, and Camille."

* * *

When Kendall came around, he had no idea where he was. All he knew was that it was cold, like someone had left the AC all the way up. Kendall looked upward at the white ceiling and squinted into the florescent lights.

_"Hospital room,"_ thought Kendall. _"I'm in a hospital room."_

Kendall tried to sit up, but that caused pain to overtake his body. So, Kendall resorted to a compromise by just propping himself up on his elbows. That was when he noticed the police chief sitting in a chair, staring right at him.

"You're awake finally," said the police chief. "I was beginning to wonder if they gave you too much of a sedative."

"Why are you here?" asked Kendall.

"Your anklet," said the police chief nodding toward the silver anklet still on his leg. "Plus I heard the call down at the station. Someone tried to murder you, huh?"

"Yes," said Kendall. "I told you I wasn't the killer."

"What makes you think that I still don't think that you're a killer?" asked the police chief. "What if this all had to do with a mob mentality thing? I mean, I've seen mobs turn against each other in the quest for power, killing anyone that's in their way."

"I'm not part of some mob! Stop trying to figure out a way to make me look guilty!"

"I'll dismiss your sharp tone of voice and blame it on the sedative they gave you," said the police chief, "But next time I won't be so forgiving."

Kendall laid back down on the bed, livid that the police chief still thought he was guilty of murder.

"You know the real culprit is Jett right? You could go survey the crime scene and see his grubby fingerprints all over it," commented Kendall.

"I know. We already looked at the crime scene. The mob theory is still viable though. We'll still bring Jett in for questioning, but you're still on the suspect list as killing Stacy Rose."

"Course," moaned Kendall.

"Yep, I've seen it before. The mob members want to take power from one another and they therefore kill those the other loves-"

"Luckily no one I loved actually died," said Kendall.

The police chief didn't say anything. The silence caused Kendall to worry.

Kendall immediately propped himself back up on his elbows and stared at the police chief.

"Right?" he asked.

"Well, maybe I should let the doctors tell you," said the police chief.

"Tell me," said Kendall, tears already clogging his throat.

He knew that the news the police chief had to tell him was bad.

* * *

Kendall couldn't stop himself from crying. The tears just spilled out of his eyes. He felt like it was all his fault, but what else could he have possibly done? He really wished that the police chief would leave so he could cry alone.

He closed his eyes, half hoping that the nightmare would go away. He wasn't sure how anything would ever be okay again.

"Please tell me that you're going to arrest that...that...person!" said Kendall his sadness becoming replaced by anger. He wanted to see Jett pay for what he had done.

"We'll arrest him once we find him," said the police chief. "Like I said, we want to interview him. Maybe he can tell us more about the mob since you won't disclose anything to us."

"I'm not involved in a mob!" said Kendall, the anger taking over full time.

"Calm down," said the police chief in a warning tone of voice. "At least everyone else might recuperate."

"How am I suppose to look at the bright side of things?" asked Kendall, the tears still staining his cheeks.

The police chief didn't answer. Kendall wasn't expecting an answer.

Jett sure was going to be dead if Kendall ever got his hands on him again. Kendall thought about what had just happened to his friends and family.

Logan and James had inhaled too much carbon monoxide and therefore their brains were damaged. They might not ever be able to speak again.

Katie and his Mom were affected in a different way by the carbon monoxide. Their lungs were damaged. They might have breathing trouble for the rest of their life.

He was trying to recuperate from massive blood loss and slight carbon monoxide poisoning in his lungs.

And Carlos.

Carlos was dead.

* * *

**AN: Please don't mourn so much yourselves that you stop reading. I know what I'm doing and I promise you, if you stick with it, it'll be awesome. Please leave reviews. If I get at least ten reviews on this chapter, I'll try to update this weekend. ;)**


	14. When Are The Nightmares Going To End?

Chapter 14

_Kendall stood outside his Mom's bedroom door. It had been two weeks since the death of his father and he had the nightmare again. The one about the man in the wind. Kendall didn't know why he kept having that nightmare, but it was so recurring that Kendall barely slept. He needed his Mom to calm him down and make him feel better like she always did._

_He reached a tentative hand forward and pushed open the door. He saw his Mom sleeping in bed, her body curled around a photo of his Dad. That's when Kendall backed up. His Mom looked more peaceful than she had for a long time. It was selfish of him to wake her up just to make himself feel better. He had to learn how to handle nightmares and not bother anyone else with the terrors in his head._

* * *

The doctors had agreed to let Kendall see Carlos's body after much arguing on Kendall's end. Kendall was half hoping that once he saw Carlos, he would magically wake from whatever spell he might be under. As a nurse wheeled his wheelchair into the morgue and Kendall saw Carlos's body lying motionless on the metal table in the room under a white sheet, Kendall started to tear up again.

Death was not some kind of spell.

The nurse wheeled Kendall up beside the table. She could clearly see that Kendall was trying to remain strong by not breaking down in tears in front of her.

"I'll give you a moment," she said with a sweet smile. "Yell to me when you're ready."

Kendall just nodded his head to indicate that he understood; too full of sorrow to reply. As soon as the nurse had left Kendall alone, Kendall allowed the tears to slip down his face.

Carlos. Poor, heroic Carlos. He had saved Kendall's life and he got rewarded with death.

Kendall reached out a shaky hand and pulled back the sheet so he could see Carlos's face. That's when he really lost it. Carlos's face looked so white. Kendall reached out a hand and touched Carlos's cold face. It wasn't fair. This whole thing wasn't fair. Carlos shouldn't be dead. Heroes aren't suppose to die.

"Come on Carlos. Wake up," said Kendall even though he knew it was useless. He could clearly see the tag that they had put on his toe indicating his time of death.

Carlos didn't respond. Kendall knew he wouldn't.

"Oh Carlos. Why were you so brave?" sobbed Kendall. "You should have just left me. I'd rather I be dead over you. You didn't do anything to deserve this."

Kendall, who was shuddering with tears at this point, laid his forehead against Carlos's arm and wept. Kendall had never cried this hard in his entire life.

* * *

_"What's going on Kendall?" asked James who stopped his bike beside Kendall._

_Kendall stared ahead of him at his house. He saw groceries strewn all across the driveway and the doorway to the house was wide open. They had just gotten back from the park where they had been playing baseball like every other nine year old boy had been doing that day. Kendall didn't know what had happened while he was gone._

_"Kendall!" he heard his little sister, Katie, yell._

_Kendall looked and saw his four year old sister Katie standing on the steps to the house. Kendall quickly dismissed his bike and raced for the door. He scooped her up in his arms and held her close to his chest. James followed close behind him._

_"What happened Katie?" asked Kendall._

_"This man appeared," she said._

_"What man?" asked Kendall._

_As he talked to Katie, he allowed his eyes to rove around the house. He noticed that everything in the house seemed to be in order, but where was his Mom?_

_"The man in Mom's picture," said Katie._

_Kendall gulped. The man in Mom's picture. Dad._

_"Kendall, is everything ok?" asked James. "Do you want me to call the police or something?"_

_Dad. He was back. He wasn't dead. After four years of thinking he was dead, he wasn't. Kendall didn't know why his heart still felt so heavy knowing this._

_"Kendall? Are you even listening to me?" asked James._

_"Katie, where's Mom?" he asked as he set her down, tuning out James._

_"With the man in there," said Katie pointing to their Mom's bedroom._

_Kendall quietly walked over to the door. He could hear muffled voices from within and pressed his ear against the door, trying vainly to listen to what was being said._

_"But Francis, why are you leaving again? You just got back. Why won't you tell me what's going on?"_

_"I can't," he said. "I really wish I could."_

_"I thought you loved me."_

_"I do."_

_"Then tell me what's going on."_

_There was silence on the other side of the door for a second before his Dad said, "I can't, but what I can promise you is that I will come back someday for you and we'll be a family again, like we were."_

_Kendall quickly backed away from the door in shock. His Dad was alive. Not only that, but he was leaving again. Kendall turned to where he had left James and Katie and said, "Lets go pick up the groceries."_

_By the time the three of them had gathered up the groceries and brought them inside, Kendall saw his Mom leaning against the counter._

_"Hey Mom," said Kendall. "We picked up the groceries for you."_

_Kendall's Mom smiled and said, "Thank you sweetheart."_

_"Katie said Dad came home..."_

_"Your father is gone Kendall," said his Mom, interrupting him. "And I don't know when he's coming back so it'd be best if we didn't talk about him, ok?"_

_That night when Kendall went to sleep, he dreamt about the man in the wind again. This time the dream didn't terrify him; this time it made him cry._

* * *

Kendall brought his forehead up off Carlos's arm and tried to wipe away the tears with the back of his hand.

"Thank you for being such a great friend Carlos," said Kendall. "I'll never forget you."

Just as Kendall was about to call for the nurse, he heard Carlos murmur , "Kendall..."

"Carlos!" said Kendall.

He looked at the Latino who still had his eyes shut and whose face still looked as pale as a ghost.

"Carlos! Did you say something?" asked Kendall.

"Kendall..." came the hushed like whisper again from Carlos's lips.

"You're alive!" cried Kendall in relief. "Nurse! Nurse! Come in here quick!"

The nurse quickly rushed into the room, wondering what was wrong with Kendall.

"What's wrong?" asked the nurse.

"He's alive!" exclaimed Kendall.

The nurse looked at Kendall as if he were insane and hearing voices.

"No really!" said Kendall.

The nurse walked over to Carlos anyway and tried to take his pulse. She gasped as she felt a small pulse on his wrist.

"You're right," she muttered. "I'll go get the doctor!"

The nurse quickly ran out of the room. Kendall sat there and continued to stare at Carlos in disbelief. Maybe death could be broken after all.

* * *

James opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. He was in an abnormally bright white room. Why? He groaned and that's when he noticed that there was an oxygen mask over his face. He felt like the mask covering his mouth was suffocating him. He reached upward and tried to figure out how to detach it from his face. He finally decided to give up the struggle momentarily.

James turned his head to the side and noticed that Logan was in the room with him. Logan was still unconscious. James wanted to speak out to Logan, but discovered that his tongue didn't want to form words. This perplexed James. He tried again, but still discovered that he came across the same difficulties.

Frustrated, James reached up to the mask on his face and figured out a way to remove it. Maybe the mask was impeding his speech. When James finally did remove it, fresh air hit his lungs with such force that he couldn't breathe for a second. He could feel his heart pounding rapidly within his chest, threatening to explode.

_"Calm down Diamond," _James thought to himself.

James sat up in the bed and flipped his feet over the edge. A machine near James's bed started to beep due to the fact that his mask was off. James knew that soon nurses would enter the room. At least they'd know he was awake.

James sat on the edge of the bed and preceded to try to form words with his tongue.

"L...L...o..."

James managed to stammer out letters, but he couldn't manage to form them into one word.

James knew that he could if he tried harder. It was like his brain was clouded over. James was determined to make the cloud go away.

"Lo..ga..n...Logan," stammered out James finally, proud of himself that he accomplished this task.

"Logan, Logan, Logan," said James again, liking that his tongue and brain weren't so numb anymore. He wanted to keep saying Logan's name to make sure his tongue and brain didn't renumb.

Logan groaned and a smile spread across James's face.

"Logan...yo..u're...you're...a..awake," said James as he got up off the bed and came over to Logan.

Logan had the mask over his face too. James towered above Logan as he saw Logan's eyelids flutter open and his hazel eyes stare up into his. James could see that Logan was struggling to form words too.

"Ta...ke...take...it...s...slow," stammered James.

Logan nodded his head; fear present in his eyes.

"H..here," stuttered James as he reached forward and took the mask off Logan's face. "It...mig..ht...help."

"J...J..." stammered Logan, obviously frustrated and scared at his inability to speak.

James reached out and grabbed Logan's hand, clutching it tightly in his own.

"Do..don't...b..e...be...sc..ared," said James with a small smile.

Tears were brimming in Logan's eyes, but he nodded his head.

"Tr...try...ag..again," encouraged James.

"J...James," stuttered Logan.

A smile appeared on his face due to his accomplishment.

Though they were faced with a tremendous obstacle, they knew that they could do it if they stuck together. They had already beat the biggest obstacle: death. They could definitely make it through whatever was to come.

* * *

Katie looked at her Mom who was in a bed beside her, still sleeping. Tears fell down her face as she looked at her. She was scared. This was the one instance in her life where she was really, truly afraid. Looking at her Mom in her condition, she wondered how Kendall was doing. She loved her big brother and wanted to know if he was alive or not. She hadn't seen him since she came to the hospital.

Katie lifted up a hand to the oxygen mask on her face. It felt like it was suffocating her more than it was helping her. She knew the doctors would highly object if she took it off, but she could make her own decisions.

Katie took off the oxygen mask and panicked for a second over her inability to breathe normally. Once she managed to make herself calm down though, she breathed easier. Sure her lungs felt like they were on fire, but it wasn't like she couldn't breathe on her own. The machine beside her beeped to signify that she wasn't attached to the machine anymore, but she really didn't care.

She walked over to her Mom's bed and rested her hand gently on her forehead, brushing aside the few strands of hair that lay in her face.

"Mom," rasped Katie, her throat feeling very sore. "Wake up."

No response came from her Mom.

Katie knelt down on the floor beside her Mom's bed and wept. She couldn't remember a time before this that she had wept so hard. She wished that someone could come and comfort her.

"Katie?"

Katie lifted up her head and turned to see Kendall there, sitting in a wheel chair. The nurse that had wheeled him into the room immediately turned and left the room to go find a doctor.

"Kendall!"

Katie was overjoyed to see Kendall. He looked a little pale in the face because he was recovering, but he was very much alive.

Katie got off her knees and ran to her brother. Kendall opened up his arms and Katie ran right into his embrace, burying her head in his shoulder. Kendall held Katie tight as she cried.

"Katie, it's okay," said Kendall, trying to sooth her.

"Kendall, I'm scared," whimpered Katie into his shoulder. "When is this nightmare going to go away?"

Kendall kissed the top of Katie's head, still holding her tight. Kendall was so angry at Jett for destroying his family like this. He had never seen his family this broken before. Jett would feel Kendall's wrath; he'd make sure of it.

"Soon Katie, I promise," said Kendall in reply. "Very soon."

* * *

**AN: There you all go! An extra long chapter for being such great readers! Thank you for reviewing! You met my ten review goal within four hours! I couldn't believe it! Please keep the reviews up! The more reviews, the faster I update. ;)**


	15. Kidnapped

Chapter 15

"Girls..." muttered Jett under his breath.

He sat behind the steering wheel in his car, drumming his fingers impatiently against the steering wheel. Jett stared out the window at the car in front of him. He had just finished sabotaging the car that Jo had taken to the mall. Jo, Lucy and Camille had left to hang out together for the day, completely clueless about what happened to the boys, and Jett had been tailing them. He knew that he couldn't disappoint his boss again. He had to prove his worth.

Just when Jett was about to go insane from waiting for so long, he saw the girls exit the department store laughing and talking, bags strung on their arms, completely oblivious to his presence.

"Be patient Jett. It's almost time," he said to himself as he watched the girls load into the car.

Jett's patience was soon rewarded when mere seconds later, they all got back out of the car. Jo had her cell phone to her ear, obviously trying to get a hold of someone while Camille and Lucy leaned against the car.

Jett got out of his car and approached the girls, trying to rid himself of the last of his nerves.

"Having some car trouble?" asked Jett.

"Jett!" said Jo turning to look at him in shock. "Yes actually. And of course, my father won't pick up."

"Of course," said Jett as he watched Jo snap her phone shut and place it in her pocket.

"Do you girls need a lift? I'd be happy to give you one," said Jett.

"Sure Jett. That's sweet of you," said Jo with a smile.

Jett gave her an overly flamboyant smile back. She laughed, knowing that he was full of himself and this was just a typical Jett move.

"Jett being helpful? Is the world coming to an end or something?" smirked Lucy.

"Haha," said Jett, forcing himself to laugh. "Very funny Lucy."

"Seriously though, you've got to admit that your sudden helpfulness is a little bit suspicious," said Lucy.

"People can change Lucy," said Jett, angered by how irritating Lucy was being.

"Come on Lucy! Lighten up! We should encourage this!" said Camille with a smile. "He's right Lucy. People do change."

"Yea okay," said Lucy rolling her eyes.

"I just need to get the keys out of the car and then I'll be able to get going," stated Jo.

She momentarily poked her head into the car and grabbed her car keys out of the ignition. She pulled her head out of the car, and after slamming the door shut, made sure she locked her car. Jo could tell that the others were giving her looks so she stated, "What? It's still a good car even though it doesn't seem to want to move right now."

The girls laughed at that as they followed Jett to his vehicle. Once at his vehicle, Jett opened the back door of his car so they could get in.

"Thanks Jett," said Camille. "I see why Kendall was worried about you and Jo now. You are such a gentlemen under your egotistical physique."

Jett turned to look at Jo and saw a blush heating up her face. He knew that he still had feelings for her. Would she ever feel the same way? He knew that she definitely wouldn't if he went through with this. But he had his orders and his boss was already one tough customer to please as it was.

Camille, Lucy, and Jo all squeezed into the back seat. No one wanted to sit in the passenger seat.

_"That's fine," _thought Jett. _"I don't need them to interfere once they catch on to my plan."_

Jett climbed into the driver's seat and started up his car. He shifted the car into drive and started to drive out of the parking space. He drove for a couple of minutes before Camille piped up, "Jett, where are you taking us? You don't even know where we want to go."

Jett looked up into the rearview mirror. He caught Camille's gaze in his and said, "I'm taking you girls on a little road trip. Thought you might as well see the town on your day out."

Jett reached over to the controls on his left and double checked to make sure the locks on the doors were still locked.

"Jett we really need to get back home, back to the Palm Woods. I've got to figure out how to get my car fixed," said Jo. "Maybe we could sight see another time."

Jett tuned Jo out. He drove the car right past the turn off to the Palm Woods and continued down the street that led out of town.

"Jett seriously. I need to get home," said Jo. "Please stop joking around and turn the car about."

Jett looked at Jo's frighten gaze in the rearview mirror. Looking into her beautiful green eyes, Jett was overcome once again with his love for her and wanted to obey her command, but he knew he couldn't. He had changed and there was no way that he could go back to who he used to be.

"Shut up Jo," snapped Jett. "It'll be better for you if you do."

Jo was shocked by Jett's sudden acidic tone.

"Told you people don't change," muttered Lucy under her breath.

Jett was getting frustrated. He reached under his seat and gripped the cold metal of his gun. He brought it up and with one hand still on the wheel, he used the other hand to bring the gun around to the back and aim it at the girls.

"I want complete silence until we get to our destination, understand? If I so much as hear another word out of you three, I will shoot you. If any of you tries to escape, I'll shoot you. If you try to call for help on your cell phones, I'll shoot you. Get the picture?"

None of the girls said anything, not even Lucy. They were all too focused on the very real gun in Jett's hand.

Jett reached back down to the floor again momentarily and grabbed up three black sacks that lay there. He tossed them back at the girls and said, "Put these on. And remember, not a peep or I'll shoot."

The girls obeyed Jett without saying another word, scared of getting shot. Jett laid the gun across his lap and refocused on the road. Jett gripped the steering wheel with both hands, glancing occasionally into the back to see all three girls sitting there in terror, the black sacks on their heads. By the time they reached their destination at an abandoned mansion, Jett knew that plan B had begun and he was oddly thrilled.

* * *

"So when can we get released?" asked Kendall as he sat in front of the doctor in his wheelchair.

Kendall had immediately asked to be wheeled into the doctor's office after he had visited Katie. He needed to make sense of all the miracles going on around him.

"Kendall...I can't state when you're going home yet..."

"But, we're all better. We all lived!" stated Kendall, trying to get the doctor's look of worry to disappear from his face.

"They've just woken up Kendall," said the doctor trying to make him see reality. "I can't just allow them to leave yet."

"But can you at least release me?" asked Kendall.

"No. I have to make sure that your blood level is back to normal," said the doctor, "And I won't know if I can release your friends until I see how limited Logan and James's vocabulary is and if there is a way to improve it, see if Jennifer and Katie can breath without having difficulties, and see if Carlos has retained any of his memory."

"Wait, back it up a second. What do you mean you have to see if Carlos has retained any of his memory?" asked Kendall, raising one of his eyebrows.

Everything else Kendall had expected to hear, but not this. This just made him really confused.

"Well, Carlos was dead for at least a good day. Even though there is a very rare chance that something like this could happen, it has happened before. People have risen from the dead after being dead for a day, but that comes at a cost. They end up waking up with a majority of their memories missing. His body repaired the neurons in his brain that were damaged. The damaged neurons cause him to appear dead to us, but as they heal, they cause memory loss."

Kendall tried desperately to follow the doctor's spiel, wanting to know what was wrong with his friend. The gist of the message was, Carlos had lost his memory. Great! That's just what they needed.

"How could this get any worse?" moaned Kendall as he placed his head in his hands.

* * *

Jett walked around to the back of the car and yanked the girls out one by one. As he yanked each one out of the car, he made sure to tie their hands behind their back with rope from the trunk of the car so they wouldn't decide to make a run for it. As soon as all the girls had their hands tied behind their backs, he started to lead them toward the front door of the partially collapsed mansion. Green ivy was growing up the once white walls, which had turned brown and black from age. The trees in the front yard were long dead. The huge driveway that circled in front of the mansion was completely deserted, just how it was suppose to be. His boss had made sure to choose an abandoned mansion far away from any habitable ones in order to avoid suspicion.

Jett lead the girls through the front door and into the grand hallway. The cream tiles that made up the floor were cracked in many spaces. The pictures that covered either side of the walls were all tipped, as if they were about to fall off and crash to the floor. A huge staircase spiraled upward into the darkness in front of Jett and that's when he saw his boss descending them, coming toward him.

"Jett, well done!" bellowed out his boss.

"Thank you," said Jett. "I'm glad I proved my worth to you."

"Just leave the girls on the couch over in the living room," instructed Jett's boss. "I'll deal with them in a minute."

"Ok," said Jett.

He turned his back on his boss and led the girls into the adjacent living room and sat them on a fancy maroon colored Victorian couch. Jett still had his back toward his boss when a bang rang through the air.

Jett gasped in pain, clasping both of his hands over his chest, blood coating his shirt. He turned toward his boss stunned, pain rippling throughout his body.

"Why?" he gasped out as he collapsed to the floor.

"I don't need you anymore," said Jett's boss with a sly grin. "Thank you for your service. Thank you for doing all the dirty work."

Jett laid on the floor, trying desperately to get the air to stay in his lungs. He could feel himself getting lightheaded. His boss laughed a malicious laugh as the world around Jett faded away and turned to darkness.


	16. The Game Has Changed

Chapter 16

After a week, they had all finally gotten released from the hospital. The doctor had concluded, after much testing, that they would eventually make a full recovery to health. James and Logan were already becoming more eloquent with their speech and Mrs. Knight and Katie were starting to be able to breath a little easier. Kendall still felt on edge though. He couldn't help it. The police had yet to find Jett. The longer Jett was on the loose, the longer Kendall feared for the wellbeing of his family. He didn't want them going back to the hospital anytime soon.

Kendall still was made to wear the anklet. He really didn't want to, but the police chief was postitve that he was involved with some kind of mob. That irritated Kendall to no end, but he decided to just be thankful he was back home in apartment 2J.

"Ken...dall," started James looking at Kendall as he slouched onto the couch.

"What?" asked Kendall as he stared at the blank television screen.

James didn't reply. Kendall turned his head to look upward at James and saw him momentarily struggle to say what he wanted to say.

Kendall smiled a sympathetic smile and said, "Don't worry James. I know there's no use in sulking."

James smiled, tears brimming in his eyes, just glad that somehow Kendall figured out what he was trying to say.

"I'll ge..t better," stuttured James.

"I know," said Kendall. "I know."

Suddenly a knock sounded at the door. Mrs. Knight and Katie were lying down in their respective bedrooms, tired out, and Logan and Carlos had managed to disappear somewhere.

"I'll ge...t it," said James.

He walked towards the door to apartment 2J. Kendall sat on the edge of the couch. He wanted to call out to James and tell him not to open the door, worried that something bad would happen, but he told himself to smarten up.

James opened up the apartment door and Kendall saw a smile light up James's face.

"Gus..tavo! Ke...lly!" stuttred James, his voice brimming with joy.

Kendall stood up from the couch and joined James at the door. He stared at Gustavo and Kelly who were each holding steaming containers of food.

"We heard you guys just got home from the hospital and decided to bring you guys supper!" said Kelly with a smile.

James eagerly started to reach toward the food in their hands, hungry due to his diet of hospital food.

"Thanks," said Kendall with an apologetic smile, "But I'm afraid we can't accept your food."

James stopped reaching for the food and stood back up straight, turning to look at Kendall and give him a weird look.

"Wh...y?" asked James.

"I don't want them to feel like we're a charity case," said Kendall. "I feel bad if they feel like they need to take care of us."

"Kendall, don't feel bad. You dogs are a family to us. You'll never be a charity case," said Gustavo.

Kendall and James were both touched by what Gustavo had just said. He always seemed to have trouble coming to terms with how he felt about them, so the fact that he now articulated that they felt like family to them, it touched both of them immensely.

"Please Kendall. We'd love to," insisted Kelly seeing that Kendall was debating what to do.

"Alright," said Kendall with a smile. "Come on in. I'll set extra plates at the table."

Kelly and Gustavo smiled as they followed James into the apartment and Kendall shut the door. Being able to smell the tantilizing aromas of lasagna and homemade rolls in the air, Logan and Carlos suddenly appeared out of hiding. Smiles lit up their faces when they saw the food laid out on the table.

"Oh yum!" said Carlos diving for the food.

James held out his arm and stopped Carlos from reaching the food.

"No...t yet," said James with a smile.

Kendall set the table and then went to go rouse Mrs. Knight and Katie. He was sure that they were just as hungry and would be pleased to eat such a scrumptious feast. When he had finally coaxed his sleepy mother and sister to wake up and come join them at the table, they were plesantly surprised by the mini feast that Gustavo and Kelly had prepared.

They all sat around the table and Kendall smiled. They prayed over their feast and then immeidately started to eat the food. For the first time in a long time, Kendall's family didn't seem broken. For a moment, it was like nothing bad had ever happened.

Then the telephone rang.

"I'll get it," said Kendall as he stood up from the table, gulping down a forkful of lasagna.

Kendall got up from the table and walked over to the telephone.

"Hello?" he asked as he picked up the phone from the receiver and put it to his ear.

"Hello Kendall," said the voice on the other end.

Kendall gulped. This voice was the same one that had called him a night or two ago and threatened him.

"What do you want?" asked Kendall in a deathly whisper, walking into his bedroom so that no one at the table would see that he was clearly disturbed.

The voice on the other end of the phone laughed as Kendall shut the bedroom door. Kendall sat down on the edge of his bed, clutching the phone, listening to the chatter from the other room while waiting for the voice to stop laughing and continue.

"I want a lot of things Kendall," said the voice.

"Look Jett, I _will _find you and you'll be arrested and exposed for the son of a gun that you are, understand?" asked Kendall clenching his teeth in anger. "I'm sick of your twisted games!"

"Oh I'm not Jett," replied the voice. "Jett's dead. And I'm afraid that my games are far from over."

Kendall's blood ran cold with the realization that flooded his being. Jett was dead. Kendall didn't know whether to sigh with relief or mourn the death of a gullible being.

"Don't be sad, Kendall. Just be happy I killed him for you. Now he's out of your way."

"Leave me alone!" shouted Kendall, suddenly overcome with rage. "What did I ever do to you?"

Kendall didn't mean to shout; it just erupted from his being. The chatter in the next room stopped. They had heard Kendall's meltdown.

"Settle down. No need to get all upset," assured the voice.

"Why ever not? You have made my life and the lives of my family a living nightmare!" said Kendall. "And don't think that just because Jett is dead that I won't find you and expose you!"

"Oh, I plan on you doing that," said the voice. "Especially since I now have bargaining chips in my possession."

"What are you talking about?" asked Kendall, his heart still beating so fast in his chest he was afraid that it'd explode.

As Kendall waited for a response on the other line, he could hear footsteps making their way toward the bedroom. He knew that any minute now someone would come through the door to see if he was already.

He was far from that.

"You haven't noticed yet?" asked the voice.

"Kind of hard when I just got home from the hospital," said Kendall, practically growling. "Which is all thanks to you and Jett."

"Maybe this will refresh your memory then."

"Kendall? Is that you?"

"Jo?" asked Kendall, his heart leaping up into his throat. That psycho couldn't have her. Could he? "Jo are you okay?"

"Yea...yea...but you have to come save us! Camille and Luc-"

"Enough!" roared the voice as Jo was cut off. The voice cleared his throat and continued. "Did I refresh your memory enough now?"

Whoever this person was, they now had Jo, Camille, and Lucy in their position. That enraged Kendall immensely. He would make sure he saved them.

"Look you sick son of a gun! I _will_ find you and when I do, you _will _pay," growled Kendall.

The bedroom door started to creak open.

"Good. I can't wait to meet you Kendall. I can't wait to see the man that you've become."

That was when the phone line went dead. Kendall threw the phone angerily down onto his bed and laid down onto his back, looking upward at the ceiling. He had to try to review all of the facts and get his head to stop spinning.

One, Jett was dead.

Two, whoever this person was, they now had Jo, Camille, and Lucy in their position.

And three, did that person know Kendall?

That question puzzled Kendall to no end. When the person had ended the conversation by saying that he can't wait to see the man that he's become, it implied that this person actually knew Kendall at some point in his life. But when had Kendall ever crossed paths with a pyschopath?

"Kendall?"

Kendall brought his head up to see Carlos, Logan, and James staring at him, all three of them peeking their heads into the room.

"Are you okay?" asked Carlos.

"No," groaned Kendall, lying back down on the bed, unable to look at them any longer.

"Wh...at's wrong?" asked Logan.

"Just got off the phone with the killer," said Kendall. "And Jett's dead."

"Oh," they all said, none of them quite sure how to feel.

"Wh...y do I fe...el like that is...n't the w...hole story?" asked James.

"Because it isn't," groaned Kendall. "He also called to say that he has Jo, Camille, and Lucy prisoner."

"WHAT?!" shouted James, the stutter lost for a moment.

Kendall sat back up and looked at the emotions that displayed themselves across his friends's faces. He could clearly see that they felt the same way that he did about the matter. Kendall knew that he would have to figure out how to save the girls and unmask the killer.

And this time, it was time for a different approach.

Now it was time to play by Kendall's rules.

* * *

**AN: I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'll be honest; I know where this story is heading, but I wasn't sure how to get it to that point. I think I do now. I will try to update more frequently. As always, please review! I love hearing feedback from all of you! Thanks and have a great day!**


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